Take your tastebuds on a trip to the Italian Riviera with this dish featuring mussels cooked in a decadent basil pesto cream sauce, perfect for pairing with crusty bread or French fries. Not a mussels fan? Feel free to substitute clams or shrimp.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
½ cup dry white wine, such as pinot grigio
1 tablespoon Armanino Creamy Garlic Sauce
2 lbs fresh mussels, cleaned and debearded
¾ cup Armanino Basil Pesto Sauce
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil, chopped for garnish
French fries or crusty bread for serving
Directions
In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the white wine and creamy garlic sauce; bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low.
Add the mussels to the pot and cover with a lid. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until the mussels have opened.
Remove the mussels from the pot with a slotted spoon into a bowl. Discard any unopened mussels and cover with foil to keep warm.
To the cooking pot, add the heavy cream about half the pesto sauce.
Bring to a boil over high, reduce to medium heat and cook until the sauce has thickened a little bit, about 8-10 minutes, until thick enough to coat a spoon.
Stir in the remaining pesto then add the mussels and any accumulated juices back to the pot and stir to combine.
Serve hot garnished with chopped fresh basil along French fries or crusty bread for dipping in the sauce.
Chef’s Tips
Buy mussels from a trusted source. Store in an open bag on a bed of ice in an uncovered bowl in the refrigerator and use within 24 hours. The mussels should not sit in ice/water, rather on top of it. To clean, rinse under cool water and brush to remove any dirt or grit. Sometimes mussels may have a “beard”, a little mossy bit emerging from the shell. With a small piece of paper towel to get a bitter grip, pull off these beards and discard.
Before cooking, look at each mussel; it should be tightly closed. If it’s open, even a little, tap firmly on the counter. It should close tightly. If it does not, discard. Only eat cooked mussels that have opened during cooking.
How do you know when the mussels are done cooking? Mussels cook quickly and once they open, you know they’re ready. Another way to know without lifting the lid and releasing all the heat is when the steam is pouring out from under the lid of the pot for 15 seconds, they’re done.
Not a mussels fan? Try clams or even peeled, deveined shrimp.
Not sure how to eat mussels? Use your first empty shell as pinchers to grab the meat from the remaining shells.
