If you’re like me, you find the usual mussels dish wanting in that the sauce is all in the bottom. The mussels are often dry or lightly sauced and you have to use bread to soak up the beautiful juices in the bottom of the bowl.

This recipe uses a thicker, creamier sauce so that a lot of it sits inside the shell and is easily savoured with the mussel by simply using your fork to get a mouthful from each shell. Be careful not to make it too thick as then there will be no juices in the bottom of the bowl. And we all like to soak up a little with bread don’t we?

INGREDIENTS

1kg black mussels in shells
onion peeled and finely chopped with a handful of thyme leaves
sunflower oil, to fry
1 cup of white wine
2 cups of fresh cream
70g of ready-made garlic butter (or just mix 2 cloves with regular butter)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
60 g chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
toasted baquette slices, to serve
lime wedges, to squeeze

METHOD

Clean the mussels by removing the beards and soaking them in clean water. Drain and set mussels aside. Remove any that are broken or already open.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, sweat the onions and the thyme leaves in a little oil until onions are soft and translucent.

Deglaze the pan with the white wine and cook over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by half and the alcohol has evaporated.

Add the fresh cream and cook over low heat, another 20 minutes. Stir in the garlic butter. Season to taste and remove from heat.

Steam the mussels in a pan of salted water, covered, until the shells open (about 3-5 min). Discard any unopened mussels. Add the mussels to the sauce, garnish with fresh parsley, and serve with baguette slices alongside the lime slices for squeezing.