Basque Grilled Mussels
We first had these grilled mussels in a tapas bar in Barcelona. The bar turned out to be a Basque influenced bar and the food reflected that. These mussels were so delicious we searched for years for a recipe. On the basis we couldn’t find one, this is what we came up with that pretty much replicates it.
Basque Grilled Mussels
Servings: 2 people
Calories: 493kcal
Ingredients
- 500 g Mussels fresh or even frozen but not those in white wine and butter, just plain mussels
- 2 cloves Garlic finely grated
- 1 handful Parsley flat leaf is best
- ½ tsp Dried Thyme
- 1 tsp Paprika not smoked!
- 20 g Panko Breadcrumbs
- 25 g Emmental Cheese finely grated
- 30 g Butter softened
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil old slag, not extra virgin!
- 100 ml Dry White Wine
- ½ tsp Salt natural sea salt is best
- 1 Lemon quartered
Instructions
- In a large pan bring the wine to a boil and then add the mussels and steam for 3 minutes. Drain the mussels in a colander, keeping the liquid. Strain the liquid and put it back in a pan and reduce until you have just a couple of tablespoons left
- Take one half of the mussel shells away, leaving the mussels sitting in one half or their shells and lay out on a pan that you are going to put under a very hot grill
- Preheat the grill to its hotest setting
- Finely chop the parsley and add it to a bowl with the finely grated garlic, the thyme, the paprika, the salt, the softened butter, the olive oil and the remaining cooking liquid and mix well. Carefully spoon this mixture over each mussel
- Mix the cheese and the panko breadcrumbs and sprinkle this carefully over the mussels. Put under the grill and cook until the breadcrumbs are golden. Serve immediatley with the lemon wedges and some good crusty bread. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 493kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 79mg | Sodium: 1157mg | Potassium: 599mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1365IU | Vitamin C: 43mg | Calcium: 188mg | Iron: 7mg