No Laboring Today: Muscle-less Mussels with Mini Heirloom Tomatoes & Pesto White Wine Broth
After a long weekend in Milwaukee and 5.5 hours of driving home, my enthusiasm for a big Labor Day-inspired dinner waned. So instead of going all out, I decided to put the least amount of muscle into our Labor Day dinner and made mussels.
Mussels seem super fancy but they require the littlest of effort. Seriously, they're easier to make than boxed macaroni and cheese. In addition, they're low in calories/fat, high in protein, a sustainable seafood option, and can be made in a multitude of ways.
Looking in the fridge, I had a jar of homemade pesto from a few weeks ago that I wanted to use, half a bottle of white wine and knew the beautiful end-of-summer tomatoes were on sale at Whole Foods. If that doesn't sound like the makings of an awesome dinner, I don't know what does.
Muscle-less Mussels with Mini Heirloom Tomatoes & Pesto White Wine Broth
Serves: 2 for dinner, 4 as an appetizer
Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes
Ingredients:
8-10 mini tomatoes (cherry, grape, etc.), cut into quarters if larger, halves if smaller
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. tomato paste
drizzle of honey (optional)
1/3 c. pesto
1/2 bottle dry white wine
1 lb. raw mussels (*see important tips below)
salt/pepper, to taste
crusty bread, to serve
Method:
1. Pour olive oil into a pot large enough to fit all the mussels with plenty of room and bring to medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add tomatoes to sauce pot, along with tomato paste and a drizzle of honey if using. Turn heat down to medium and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, allowing the tomatoes to break down a tiny bit.
2. While tomatoes are cooking, gently pour mussels (that have likely been packed in ice), into a strainer in the sink and rinse until ice melts. Sort through the mussels, discarding any substantially cracked or open shells (see tips below for more details).
3. Once the tomatoes have broken down a bit and a nice sauce has started to come together with the oil, add in the pesto, reserving 1 tablespoon for later. Pour in enough wine so that there is substantial liquid for the mussels to steam, creating a broth (it will be thicker than traditional broth, but not as thick as a sauce). Stir until well-combined, bring to a gentle boil at medium-high heat.
4. Carefully add mussels to boiling broth and cover, allowing the mussels to steam. This will only take about 3-5 minutes. Gently stir to make sure all mussel shells have opened, season with salt and pepper to taste, and then remove from heat.
5. Serve mussels in the broth with crusty bread or toast for dipping. Discard any mussels that did not open while steaming.
A few tips regarding cooking mussels at home:
Whole Foods seems to always have them for $4.99/lb. which is much cheaper than most places and they've always been delicious, so I usually get them there.
Make sure that the shells aren't cracked and discard any that are substantially cracked before cooking.
All mussel shells should be closed prior to cooking. If they're wide open, the mussel is likely dead and you don't want to eat it. Discard prior to cooking. If a shell is slightly open, lightly tap it on the side of the sink and see if it closes. If it does, the mussel is still alive and can be cooked.
Discard any mussels that didn't open while steaming.
Long story short: You want tightly closed mussels before cooking, widely opened ones after cooking. Anything in between should be tossed. Here's an article with more information on preparing mussels.
​
