It’s currently Moules Frites season in the South of France, so what better time to introduce you to my all-time favourite moules frites (Mussels & Fries) recipe. Granted, no matter how you try to dress it up, it never looks like the most appealing dish in the world. But, stick with it, trust me, it tastes incredible. It looks a little complicated to a novice, but it’s actually very easy and quite difficult to mess up.
This is also a fantastically simple dinner party dish as you can do pretty much everything in advance, up to where you add the wine to the pot. A few minutes before serving, simply reheat and add the mussels. Your fries can honestly be made any way you prefer them, Actifry, deep-fried and even oven chips will all work great.
Use whatever mussels you can find, most mussels need to be cleaned and debearded. To do so, rinse the mussels under cold water to remove any debris, using a brush if necessary. Then pull off any beards, the stringy bits dangling from between the shells. After cooking, discard any mussels that don’t open before serving.
The traditional way to enjoy mussels is to use the empty mussel shell from the first one you eat to extract and remove the subsequent mussels. Serve with cold white wine or champagne, and crusty bread to soak up the sauce.
- 4 tablespoons (60g) unsalted or salted butter
- 1/2 cup (55g) peeled and finely chopped shallots
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- pinch of salt
- 3 cups (750ml) dry white wine
- 1/4 cup (15g) chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 4 pounds (1,8kg) mussels, cleaned and debearded
1. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, and salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until the shallots and garlic are soft and wilted, this should take about 2 minutes.
2. Add the wine and parsley and bring to a boil. Add the mussels to the pot, stirring them a few times, then cover and steam for about 5 minutes until the mussels open, lifting the lid midway during cooking to stir them.
3. Remove from heat and serve the mussels with your fries and bread, bon appétit!
