June 25, 2020
When I saw that my local market had PEI mussels for sale, I just had to buy them! You might be wondering, what does PEI stand for? It is short for Price Edward Island and is the most special island to visit. We made a road trip up to Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island, two summers ago and loved every little part of this quaint and small island. Most of all we enjoyed the food that this Canadian province is known for...their mussels! So you can just imagine how excited my boys were for dinner when they saw me bring home PEI mussels from the market! This recipe is super simple and just takes a few ingredients. Make sure that you also buy a crusty baguette because you are going to want to sop up this delicious garlicky wine and tomato sauce with the bread!
PEI Mussels with White Wine and Tomatoes
Ingredients:
2 lb bag of mussels
Bowl of cold water
3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
1 shallot, sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves, minced
14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
Kosher Salt
Pepper
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Baguette, sliced
Dissolve the flour in a large bowl of cold water. Breaking up the flour with your hands.
Rinse the mussels in a colander, removing the "beards" from the mussels. Beards are the fibrous pieces that stick out from the mussels. Discard and cracked mussels.
Take the mussels and soak in the flour water for a half hour. This helps the mussels to release any sand or sediment into the bowl and not your sauce.
After a half hour, rinse the mussels again with water and drain.
In a large skillet, melt the butter and add the shallots over medium heat.
Cook until translucent and add the garlic. Cook the garlic with the shallots for 45 seconds.
Add the full can of tomatoes and stir.
Add salt and pepper to taste. I did 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper.
Add the wine and increase heat to medium high.
When the sauced comes to a boil, add the rinsed mussels.
Cover and cook until the mussels start to open up.
As they open, I remove them onto a large bowl or platter. Removing them as they open keep them from cooking too long and getting tough.
Discard any mussels that do not open. Yay! All of mine opened this time!
Pour the sauce over the mussels and sprinkle the parley on top.
Serve right away with the sliced baguette. A combination that tastes like heaven!
Such a delicious and light summer meal! I don't know what I like more? The mussels from Prince Edward Island or sopping up this amazing sauce with bread! The best!