MUSSELS A LA MARINERA

This is a really nice way to eat mussels. At Barrafina, we cook the mussels one by one so we can take them out of the pan the second they open, but that’s not practical when cooking at home. One of the benefits of the method below is that all the mussel juice escapes into the tomato sauce. Serve with a glass of white wine and some bread – as is so often true, especially with Spanish food, the best bit about this dish is the dipping.

FOR 4–6

600g mussels

a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

4 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

For the marinera sauce

75ml extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

2 onions, roughly chopped into big chunks

1 red pepper, roughly chopped to the same size as the onions

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

200ml sherry or white wine

5–6 fresh ripe plum tomatoes

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To clean the mussels, wash them in a bowl of ice-cold water, then scrape any barnacles off the shells and remove the beards. Throw away any mussels with broken shells. Test if any slightly open mussels are still alive by squeezing the shells together – if they stay open, discard them. Drain and put into a bowl covered with a wet tea towel – this keeps them closed and happy.

To make the sauce, put the olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and cook until slightly caramelized, then add the red pepper and bay leaves and sweat for around 15 minutes. Add the smoked paprika and sherry, cook until the alcohol has evaporated, then add the tomatoes. Cook for 20–30 minutes, stirring together to help everything break down and ensure the tomatoes get nice and sweet.

Put a drizzle of olive oil into a saucepan or a shallow casserole and place on a medium heat. Add the mussels, then scrape in the sauce, season with salt and pepper, and immediately put the lid on. Lower the heat slightly, then shuffle the pan to help release the mussel juices into the tomato sauce – they will open in 3 or 4 minutes.

Once the mussels have all opened (throw away any that haven’t), sprinkle over the chopped parsley and serve.