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Stuffed Mussels with Garlic

July 07

Mussels have always been eaten in Ireland, usually by coastal dwellers, but they were also hawked around the streets of Drogheda and of course Dublin, as evidenced in the old song about Molly Malone who ‘wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow’. Today the mussels of Wexford are particularly large and succulent, a commercial mussel farm having been established there, but there are also many fine mussels in other parts of Ireland. This is a modern recipe given to me by the Irish aquaculture association. Recipe from The Pleasures of the Table: Rediscovering Theodora Fitzgibbon.

Serves 4
15 mins

Method

1. Wash and prepare the mussels, removing any that remain open once tapped on a surface.
2. Put the mussels into an ovenproof dish.
3. In a saucepan, heat the butter until just melted, add the garlic, then the lemon juice, salt and pepper and chopped parsley.
4. Mix well and when amalgamated and very hot, pour gently over the mussels. Run the dish under a hot grill until peaking brown.

450–700 g shelled cooked mussels or 2 ¼ litres if bought in the shells

100g butter

2 large cloves garlic, crushed

Juice of ½ large lemon

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

Lemon wedges to garnish

You'll Need

Oven proof dish

Small saucepan

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Riso Patate E Cozze (Baked Mussel & Potato Risotto)

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