Looking for a decadent yet fresh, fancy yet simple dinner recipe? Mussels in a creamy white wine sauce is a perfect weeknight meal that doesn’t take long to cook. Although mussels can be difficult to find, they are easy to cook and they pair perfectly with this sauce and very crusty bread.

Although we are living in Spain for the time being, mussels in white wine is a dish that you would typically find in France. However, we spotted these in the supermarket and had to try them because I’d never made them before. Turns out, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought.

However, we thought we’d bought fresh mussels but they were actually pre-cooked. We panicked for about ten minutes thinking that all the shells were open because the mussels had gone off.

Because we used cooked mussels in our recipe, I’ve decided to include 2 ways to cook this dish, with fresh and cooked mussels. Because I’ve never made this recipe before, I also decided to cook the sauce seperately and add the mussels in at the end. Although the fish wasn’t cooked in the sauce, it still tasted amazing, however most recipes would recommend cooking the mussels directly in the sauce.

This recipe really is easy to make and only takes about 20 minutes to make. Most supermarkets in the UK will sell frozen mussels which you can defrost and cook, although I know they can be a tricky ingredient to find.

Arguably the best part of this recipe isn’t the mussels, it’s the bread. I don’t think there is anything better than dipping the bread into this creamy sauce. It might not be the healthiest but it is delicious.

Anyway, here’s the recipe. I hope you like it!

Mussels in a cream and white wine sauce

Serves: 2

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15-20 mins

Ingredients

For the mussels

• 1kg of fresh mussels or cooked mussels (preferably in the shell)
• Enough water to cover about 1/4 of the mussels (you can top this up when cooking)

For the white whine and garlic sauce

• 1 onion or 3 shallots, finely diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 150 ml of white wine, or 1 medium glass
• Salt and pepper
• 400ml of double cream
• 1 large handful of parsley, roughly chopped

How to cook fresh mussels

1. Clean the mussels by putting them into cold water and scrubbing them. Remove any barnacles and the ‘beards’, which are stringy bits on the shell. Discard any shells that have broken and any shells which are open, as they will be dead and can be very dangerous to eat. If you find an open shell, gently tap it on a surface. If it closes up, it is still alive and you can cook it. If not, don’t cook it.
2. Turn a hob to medium-high. Place the clean mussels into a large pan with and cover 1/4 of the way up with water. You want the mussels to steam so don’t put too much water in. If the pan runs out of water while cooking, top it up a little.
3. Put the pan on the hot hob and cover with a lid. Steam on a medium-high heat for around 5 minutes, or until all of the mussels begin to open. If there are any mussels that won’t open, throw them away. When cooked, the mussels should be a beautiful orange colour.
4. Drain the mussels and then put them into the sauce.

If you are using pre-cooked mussels, you can choose to steam them for a couple of minutes or warm them up in the sauce. Just be careful not to cook them for too long as this may overcook the mussels and turn them mushy.

How to make the white wine sauce

1. Finely chop one onion or three shallots. Heat a medium pot up on a low-medium with a little oil. Add the onion and cook for around 10 mins, or until they are soft and translucent.
2. Finely dice the garlic cloves and add to the pot. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Turn the heat up slightly and add the wine. Bring to the boil and let the wine reduce. This should take 3-4 minutes, and there should only be a small covering of liquid in the pan.
4. Once reduced, add the cream and cook slowly. Try not to boil the cream as this can cause it to split. Warm until the sauce starts to thicken. Season with salt, pepper and any herbs you have. Lastly, add the parsley.
5. To serve, add the cooked mussels into the sauce, stir and serve with bread and white wine.

Tips: if you have any leftover sauce after cooking/eating, save it and use it as a sauce for pasta the next day.

If you love fish, why not try my sea bass recipe with garlic roast potatoes and pea purée?