Marinated mussels on buttered bread

Marinate cooked mussels in a homemade brine made with garlic, chillies, bay leaves, fennel, lemon, pepper and paprika, then serve on crusty, buttery bread. The combination of the juicy, flavoursome mussels on rich, buttery bread makes for a rich and satisfying snack.

Marinated mussels on buttered bread Credit: Kitti Gould

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 1 kg mussels
• crusty sourdough or rye, to serve
• unsalted butter, softened, to serve

Pickling liquid

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced on a mandolin
• 3 long green chillies, thinly sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 strips lemon zest
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1½ tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar

Instructions

1. Rinse your mussels under cold running water and set aside. Heat a large saucepan (which has a tight-fitting lid) over high heat. Add in the mussels and cover with a lid and allow them to steam open in their own liquid for about 3-6 minutes, or until all the mussels have opened their shells. Remove from the heat.
2. When cool enough to handle, pick the mussels out of the shell and remove any straggling beards which might still be attached simply by pulling them off. Set the mussels aside in a heatproof dish.
3. Heat a small saucepan over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sizzle the garlic and chilli together until the garlic is beginning to brown. Add in the remaining pickle ingredients, except the olive oil and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for at least a minute to dissolve the salt and sugar and allow the flavours to meld.
4. Pour the boiling hot liquid over the mussels and allow them to cool. When cooled, pour the remaining olive oil over the top and keep in an airtight container in the fridge. They will keep for about a week.
5. Serve slices of fresh crusty bread with softened butter so that people can create their own little tartines.

Note
• The "beard" is the stringy part of the mussel it uses to attach itself to long pieces of rope which farmers hang in the ocean. I find the beard easier to remove after cooking.

Photography by Kitti Gould.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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