I first tried this delicious dish in Parramatta, Sydney at an Italian restaurant called “The Sicilian” It was unexpectedly fabulous, with enough heat to still enjoy the flavour. It came with two very large pieces of sourdough bread and some extra chillies on the side.
I went home bought some mussels and started to experiment… It is so easy to make and if you have a really big pot you can make double or even triple the amount to feed lots of people for a party. I bought 1kg of mussels for only $10, so this is quite an inexpensive seafood meal.
This recipe makes enough sauce for about 4 – 6 people, so you choose the amount of muscles that each person gets.. I normally use about 5 – 6 mussels each for an entrée or 12 – 15 mussels each for a main. It is important to serve with a big chunk of bread to make the most of all the yummy sauce!
Ingredients
4 Cloves of Garlic
2 Brown Onions
2 – 10 Deseeded Chillies (depending on how hot you want it).
40g Butter
20g of Olive Oil
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1 Bottle of Passata
100g of Paprika Relish (optional)
250mls (g) of Water
100mls of Dry White Wine (100g)
I – 2 kgs of Cleaned, Debearded Mussels (depending on how many you are feeding)
1 Tablespoon of Salt
1 Tablespoon of Sugar
Pepper to taste
Method
1. Sauté chopped onions in butter and oil then add crushed garlic and chopped chillies.
2. Add tomatoes and passata and water to the pan and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add muscles and simmer with the lid on for another 10 – 15 minutes. Throw out any muscles that don’t open!
4. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley or a few more chopped chillies.
5. Serve in a gorgeous bowl with a huge slice of thick toasty bread! (unless you are gluten free, then a yummy slice of gluten free bread).
1. Place onions, garlic and chillies into the mixing bowl and chop 3 seconds/speed 7 scrape down the bowl and repeat.
2. Add butter and oil and sauté 3 minutes/Varoma/speed 2.
3. Add tin tomatoes, bottle of passata, relish, water, wine and cook sauce 30 minutes/100 degrees/speed 2 with the mixing basket on top to allow the steam to get out but not make a mess.
4. Carefully place in Thermomix basket into the sauce (don’t push hard as it will overflow), then add as many mussels as you can fit into the basket. Put the rest of the mussels into the Varoma.
5. Cook sauce and mussels for 15 minutes/100 degrees/speed 2.
6. Place sauce, and mussels into a large bowl, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with big chunks of crusty bread.
I hope you enjoy this easy, tasty meal. Please let me know what you think!
Enjoy Irresponsibly!
Liz x
This is a great gourmet well-priced meal. I love the look of the paprika relish – I haven’t seen that before xx
Hi Charlie, I use to buy it in Sydney from a deli in Chatswood right next door to the to The BBQ Factory on Penshurst St! There is also a shop in West Ryde… but I can’t remember the name! It is fantastic… it adds a great flavour to any tomato dish… you just need to cook it out like tomato paste! Liz x