Serves 8 Serves 8
When most people hear the word chowder, they immediately think of clams. But I’m hard-pressed to choose between the briny flavor of clams and the relatively sweet quality of mussels, which I like in a brothy Manhattan-style chowder with tomatoes, diced potato, and herbs. (This recipe also makes a great clam chowder by simply substituting clams for mussels.) You can leave the mussels in their shells for a dramatic presentation, or remove the shells from all or half of them.
Serve this with croutons spread with Saffron Aïoli or Red Pepper Aïoli.
6 plum tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Sugar
1 cup dry white wine
8 cloves garlic, 2 smashed and peeled and 6 peeled and thinly sliced
3 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 teaspoon olive oil
6 ounces double-smoked bacon, cut into small dice (about 11/2 cups)
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into small dice
1 large Spanish onion, peeled and cut into small dice
2 celery stalks, cut into small dice
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 medium, or 2 small, Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
3 cups store-bought, reduced-sodium chicken broth or homemade Chicken Stock
1. About 30 minutes before you want to cook, put the tomatoes in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Set aside.
2. Pour the wine into a large pot, add the smashed garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Bring the wine to a boil over high heat. Add the mussels to the pot, cover, and cook until they open, about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer the mussels to a large bowl. Discard any mussels that do not open. Set aside to cool. Strain and reserve the cooking liquid in a bowl. (You should have about 1 cup of liquid.)
3. When the mussels are cool enough to handle, remove them from their shells, if desired. Discard the shells and set the mussels aside.
4. Wipe out the pot. Add the olive oil and bacon and cook over medium-high heat until the bacon begins to render its fat, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot, onion, celery, and sliced garlic to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Add the tomato paste to the pot and stir to coat the vegetables with the paste. Cook, stirring, for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the potatoes, thyme, bay leaf, and tomatoes and their juice to the pot and cook for 3 minutes.
6. Pour the broth and reserved mussel cooking liquid into the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat, taste, and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Simmer until the potatoes are nearly tender, about 15 minutes. If not serving immediately, let cool, cover, and refrigerate the mussels and soup separately for 1 or 2 days. Reheat the soup before proceeding.
7. Add the mussels and heat gently for 5 minutes. To serve, ladle some of the soup into each of 6 bowls.
VARIATIONS
Clam Chowder
If you don’t love mussels, substitute clams.
Oyster Chowder
For oyster chowder, omit the clams and wine and add 1/2 cup bottled clam juice in Step 6 to make up for the missing cooking liquid. Poach 24 shucked oysters in the simmering soup for 1 to 2 minutes before serving.
Most mussels available in markets today are cultivated, which consequently means they don’t have as much flavor as wild ones but are nonetheless sweet and delicious and offer consistent quality. They should be scrubbed under cold running water and their beards (the hairy thread by which they attach themselves to rocks or other hosts) should be removed before they are cooked. If you’re cooking with very fresh mussels, the beard may be hard to remove prior to cooking; if so, remove it afterwards.
Most markets in the United States sell cultivated blue mussels. If you can find them, I prefer Prince Edward Island mussels which are uniformly small with tightly closed black shells. Less commonly available but worth seeking out are the stupendous New Zealand green (or green-lipped) mussel. These are about twice the size of other mussels and have a beautiful green tint to the shell. They’re delicate and superior in flavor.