Starters & Apps

Another fan favorite at the McDevitt dinner table. Part of the love of this dish is the fact that we are all digging into a shared bowl at the table.  While it’s technically a starter, we often have it as a meal. There’s no concern about setting tables or timing the meal.  Simple – simple – simple.   Steam the mussels in the wine sauce and serve it with a loaf of French bread.  Everyone gathers around to eat the sweet mussels, dip their bread in the broth, share stories and simply enjoy with a glass of wine. 

Ingredients

2T Olive Oil
2-4 lbs mussels
1 large sweet onion
Fresh basil, chopped (use as much as you want – If I HAVE to provide a measure then 1C?)
1 large can diced tomatoes (I get it with Italian seasoning)
3-5 cloves of garlic (or just use a few scoops of the chopped garlic in a jar to make it even easier!)
1 bottle white wine (you don’t need an expensive wine here – but make sure you like the flavor – I like a buttery chardonnay)

Preparation

Clean the mussels
Rinse in cold water and scrub off any ocean stuff)
If there are mussels that are cracked – toss ‘em.
If there are mussels that are open, tap them on the bowl or sink.
      If they close up – keep ‘em
      If they don’t close – toss ‘em
Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot (big enough to hold all your mussels)
Chop the onions and garlic and saute to fragrance in the olive oil
Add your tomatoes and chopped basil
Pour in the whole bottle of wine (if you pour yourself a glass before adding that’s OK too!)
Bring this to a quick boil to steam the mussels
Add in the mussels, cover and steam until they are opened (~6 minutes or so – Don’t over cook them!!)

Pour the whole thing into a nice wide sharing bowl and pop a loaf of French (or garlic) bread next to the bowl and tell everyone to dig in!