And just like that Summer is over! It has been a while since we last touched base, we have been so busy in FRATELLI creating a whole range of new menu’s for our amazing customers!

Today we’re going to share with you a family recipe for mussles in a homemade tomato sauce, that you can find in our beautiful cousin’s book Mangia Mangia – Gatherings.

This dish is so simple & so tasty!

 
Serves: 8
Cooking Time: 20 minutes (not including prep)
 
What you need:
– olive oil, for cooking
– 1 Small red onion, finely chopped
– 2 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
– 1 Small red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
– 400g can of Italian peeled chopped tomatoes
– Salt & freshly ground pepper
– 2.5kg of mussels, cleaned & debearded
– 1/2 cup (125ml) white wine
– Chopped basil and flat leaf parsley, to serve
– Crusty bread
– Salt & pepper to taste
 

Now to the fun part:
– Heat a little olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy-based saucepan or stockpot
– Add onion and saute for 1 minute or until translucent
– Add garlic and chilli, cook for another minute
– Add tomatoes, salt & pepper and stir to combine
– Continue to cook for 10 minutes
– Add mussels and white wine & stir through
– Cover with tight-fitting lid and steam the mussels for a minute
– Remove lid and stir
– Put lid back on and repeat process until all the mussels have opened (if some mussels remain closed, try gently prising them open by hand. If they still don’t open, discard them)
– Transfer the mussels and cooking liquor to a large bowl, stir through the chopped herbs and bring warm to the table.
– Serve with custry bread to lick the plate clean!
 
Paring wine: Any dry white or light red
 
 

 
This dish reminds us of summer! as kids, we would be up early to collect our own mussels from the pier at our local beach – they were always so plentiful and plump.
These mussels are served up in a huge bowl in the middle of the bench with plenty of fresh crusty bread to be shared among the ever growing family.