I’d had mussels in New York, even as a child, but never did they look so appealing as they did my first night in Rome, laced with onion, garlic, tomato, parsley, and lemon. Since then I’ve learned to love and prepare mussels in a variety of ways, but I always come back to these. Serve with lots of bread for sopping up the broth.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Put the oil in a saucepan large enough to hold all the mussels and turn the heat to medium. A minute later, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, 5 minutes. Add the tomato, if using, and raise the heat a bit; cook for 5 minutes more, until the tomato begins to break up.
Step 2
Add the mussels, turn the heat to high, and cover the pot. Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until they all (or nearly all) open, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Step 3
Scoop the mussels into a serving bowl. Strain the accumulated liquid through a fine strainer—preferably one lined with cheesecloth—and pour it over the mussels. Garnish with parsley and serve with the lemon wedges.
Steamed Mussels, French Style
Step 4
Substitute butter for the oil and use 2 or 3 chopped shallots in place of the onion. The garlic is optional; omit the tomato and lemon. Proceed as directed, adding 1/2 cup white wine to the pot just before adding the mussels. If you like, you can finish the sauce with 1/2 cup heavy cream.
Steamed Mussels, East Asian Style
Step 5
Substitute peanut or canola oil for the olive oil and 1/4 cup chopped scallion for the onion; add 1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger along with the garlic and proceed as directed, omitting the tomato and lemon. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce to the liquid after cooking and serve with lime wedges.
Steamed Mussels, Thai Style
Step 6
Omit the oil, onion, tomato, lemon, and parsley. Combine the mussels in a pot with the garlic; 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised with the back of a knife and roughly chopped; 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh Thai basil leaves; 1 small fresh or dried chile; the juice of 1 lime; and 1 tablespoon nam pla. Steam as in step 2, then strain as in step 3. Garnish the mussels with more Thai basil and a squeeze of fresh lime.
Steamed Mussels with Pasta
Step 7
Steps 1 and 2 remain the same (it’s nice to add a dried chile to the mix). When the mussels are done, shell them, reserving all the liquid that comes out of them, as well as their (strained) cooking liquid. Let them rest in the liquid. Cook a pound of linguine or spaghetti in boiling salted water. While the pasta is cooking, reheat the mussels gently in their cooking liquid. Drain the pasta and dress it with the mussels and as much of the liquid as needed to make a sauce. Garnish with parsley and serve.
