Mussels with chorizo & white wine, garlic bread
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 red chilli, seeded & finely diced
5 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ bulb fennel, thinly sliced
1 chorizo, diced
3 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
300ml passata
1kg mussels, cleaned
250ml white wine
½ bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 lemon zest & juice
Method
Heat a large pot over a high heat. Swirl in olive oil and when it shimmers, add the onion, chilli, garlic & fennel then cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Add chorizo and cook for a further minute. Next add the tomatoes, passata & wine and bring to the boil. Add the mussels & perhaps a little of the ocean water & cover with a lid. After a few minutes they will start to open, continue cooking, shaking the pan from time to time, until all the mussels have steamed open. Finally toss in the herb, zest & juice. Serve in a large bowl with garlic bread alongside.
Garlic bread
1 sourdough Vienna loaf
250g unsalted butter, softened
50ml extra virgin olive oil
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seed, toasted & finely ground
1 lemon, zested & juiced
¼ bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Sea salt & freshly milled pepper
Method
Preheat oven to 220C. Cut sourdough into 2cm thick slices. Combine butter, olive oil, chilli, garlic, fennel, zest, juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Spread it onto both sides of the bread and put the loaf back together. Wrap in foil and heat in the oven for 20 minutes.
