Description
Steamed mussels in a garlicky white wine broth with Swiss chard and cherry tomatoes. Served with warm baguette fresh from the boulangerie and a chilled glass of Muscadet, these “moules avec blette et tomate” are a delicious French-inspired dish for the start of summer.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 kg (or 2 lbs) mussels, cleaned and debearded
- 15 g (or 1 tbsp) butter
- Olive oil
- 1 shallot
- 2 cloves of garlic
- A large handful of Swiss chard, torn into medium-sized pieces
- Cherry tomatoes (any fresh tomato will do), as many as you wish
- ~200 ml (or 1 cup) of dry white wine
- Fresh baguette, for serving
Instructions
- Sautée the chopped shallot in the butter in a large pot over medium. Let it cook for a few minutes until tender.
- Stir in the two gloves of minced garlic, adding a drizzle of olive oil as well, letting it cook for just a minute or before it starts to brown.
- Mix in the the chopped swiss chard and cherry tomatoes to the pot with a little dash of salt. Add a drizzle of more olive oil if needed.
- Add the mussels and pour in the white wine. Cover the pot and allow the mussels to steam. You’ll know they’re done when they are all open, maybe about 5 minutes.
- Give everything a good stir to coat the mussels in the broth before transferring to a large serving bowl and garnish with fresh parsley and some lemon zest.
- Serve alongside fresh baguette and a chilled glass of white wine like Muscadet.
Notes
This recipe can be a blank canvas for using a variety of seasonal produce. If you have corn, tomatoes, leeks, or other ingredients you want to make use of you can experiment with different combinations. Hard to go wrong!
I often eye-ball the quantities here, making it an even easier recipe as you don’t have to worry about measurements. Once you get a feel for making steamed mussels the first few times you’ll be able to sense how much of each ingredient you want to use.