Mussels, cheapest protein! That sentence, so typical of grandmothers, is totally true. And is also true that mussels escape the curse, because apart from cheap, they are also delicious, healthy and not fattening!
The day I took the photos, I used French Mussesls or Bouchot Mussels, which are the delicious tiny ones, but the recipe goes as good with bigger mussels.
Belgians have them accompanied by fries and a beer, which I think is just perfect.
BELGIAN STYLE MUSSELS
Recipe Type: starter, main
Author:
Ingredients
- Fresh mussels, about 350 -400g per person
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 and a half glass of white wine
- 1 large or 2 medium onions, finely chopped.
- 4 stalks of celery, remove the strands and chop.
- extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 250ml cream (optional, I did not use the day I took the photos, and also didn’t include it in the nutritional information)
Instructions
- We rinse the mussels in cold water, you can rub against each other. It is important to remove the beard you can see between the two shells. To do this, grab a knife with one hand, and hold the beard between your thumb and the knife. With the other hand, hold the mussel give it a sharp pull to debeard it. Discard any mussels that are broken .
- In a saucepan put about 4 tablespoons of oil, add the onion and celery, add a little salt and sauté over medium heat until everything is very soft.
- While it cooks we steam the mussels. To do this we use another deep sauce pan, put 1/2 inch of water, two bay leaves -cracked to get all the flavour- and half a glass of white wine. Put the pan over high heat and when it boils add the mussels and put the lid. Wait for a minute and take a look, as soon as most of them are open remove from the heat, drain them, keeping the cooking liquid and put the mussels in the serving tray, discarding those that have not opened.
- By then, the vegetables must be already soft, add a glass of white wine, salt and pepper. Allow a few minutes for the alcohol to evaporate and add a bit of the mussels broth, letting reduce a few minutes. This is the moment when we would add the cream. Season with salt and pepper and serve the sauce over the mussels.
Calories: 469 Fat: 16g Saturated fat: 1g Trans fat: 0 Carbohydrates: 26g Sugar: 5g Sodium: 1196 Fiber: 2g Protein: 49g Cholesterol: 112mg
Notes
1. The original recipe is adding a can of cream, but I don’t always add it. The day I took the pictures I preferred to go lighter, you can try both versions and let me know which one you prefer. [br]2. Belgians accompany them with fries, but I also like to do so with rice to soak the sauce. [br]3. 44% proteins, 32% fat and 24% carbs.
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