A woman from Marseille, France, taught me to cook mussels this way. The main ingredients are garlic, wine and good, fresh mussels. As the mussels are cooked they open and release their briny juices and create the broth. The mussels are cooked through as soon as they open, so don’t overcook them or they’ll be tough. I’ve followed her basic rules ever since, and I’ve never been disappointed. Sometimes I’ll add some chili flakes along with the garlic, or use all white wine, leaving out the pastis, or change up some of the herbs, but the principles remain the same. Be sure to serve the mussels with plenty of bread for sopping up the broth, almost my favorite part. I sometimes cook extra mussels if I want to make moules gratinées the next day.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ onion, chopped
- 5 pounds mussels, scrubbed, rinsed and debearded if necessary, see below
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup pastis
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 branch wild fennel or ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2—3 cloves garlic
Preparation
In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil and butter until the butter foams. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the mussels and pour in the wine and the pastis. Rub the thyme between your hands over the pot, allowing it to fall over the mussels. Add the bay leaf and the fennel branch or fennel seeds. Grate the garlic directly over the mussels. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook just until the mussels open, 10 to 12 minutes.
Uncover and turn the mussels several times. Most should be open. If not, cover and continue to cook another 1 to 2 minutes.
To serve, discard the fennel branch and bay leaf. Using a large, slotted spoon, scoop the mussels into 4 individual bowls, discarding any mussels that fail to open. Ladle a little broth into each bowl and serve at once.
If you are saving some mussels to make moules gratinées the next day, set them aside in a bowl and cover them with broth. If desired, the mussels can be removed from their shells and left in the broth, reserving some of the shells for the gratinées or for another dish such as risotto or pasta.
