members recipes

Mussels and clams are my favourite ingredients because of their strong and salty flavour.

Ingredients
■6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
■6 garlic cloves
■1 anchovy
■1 – 2 fresh chillies (to taste)
■1Kg fresh mussels
■1 glass of white wine
■2 x 400g peeled plum tomatoes (cans)
■1 tsp sugar
■sea salt
■flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
■80 ml vegetable stock

Method
Rinse the mussels under the cold tap. Pull off any beards and scrape off any barnacles or dirt. Discard open or broken shells.

Heat two tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan and add the chillies and four garlic cloves, peeled and crushed. Fry over a medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring until the garlic is soft and golden brown.

Add the mussels and cook over a high heat for 2 minutes, then add the white wine and cook until the wine has evaporated and the mussels are open (5 – 6 minutes). Don’t forget to discard any unopened shells.

Strain the liquid left in the saucepan. Set the mussels and the strained juice aside.

Clean the saucepan (important to get rid of any sand that could have been in the mussels). Heat the rest of the oil (4 tbsp) and add the anchovy, two garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped. Fry over a medium heat for 1 minute, stirring.

Add the peeled plum tomatoes and roughly crush. Add the strained juice (about 400 ml; if less than 400ml top up with water) and season with sea salt and sugar.

Cover and bring the sauce to the boil (2-3 minutes), uncover the saucepan and cook over a medium-high heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the sauce is cooked and has thickened, but is still a little bit loose.

Add the mussels, the freshly chopped flat leaf parsley, and the vegetable stock. Stir gently.

Serve with bruschetta (toasted sliced bread rubbed with a clove of garlic).
Source: ritacooksitalian