Mussels in a Tomato and Wine Sauce Recipe

There are many recipes for cooking mussels where the main difference is the sauce. This is my favourite. For a spicy dish you should use hot paprika and for a milder dish use sweet paprika. Another alternative is to cook the mussels in white wine and lemon juice.



Mussels ingredients:
For 4 main courses or 6 - 8 starters

2 ½ kg mussels
2 large onions
4 garlic cloves
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (450g)
1 glass of white wine
1 tablespoon paprika
oregano
black pepper
2 bay leaves
olive oil
crusty bread

Preparation:
First find a large pan with a lid. Heat some olive oil in the pan and add the onions and garlic and let them fry gentle for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile clean the mussels. Remove the beards and clean the outside of the shells - some people like to scrape the shells to get them spotless but I don't think you need to go to overboard. Throw out any that are broken or that don't close when you touch them.

Once the onions have been frying for 20 minutes add all the other ingredients except the mussels and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and gently boil for about 10 or 15 minutes to let all the flavours come out.
Turn the heat back up, add the mussels and cover. Leave to boil for about 5 minutes until the shells open. Serve in large bowls with plenty of fresh crusty bread to soak up the wonderful sauce.
As mentioned above you could make a white wine and lemon sauce. After frying the onions and garlic add a glass of white wine and the juice of 1 or 2 lemons, bring to the boil and add the mussels.

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