Simon Hulstone's take on a classic mussels mouclade recipe is a reminder of the old trading links that the French port towns enjoyed with the East, with its pairing of lightly spiced mussels with a rich spinach mousse.
Peel and slice the shallots and the cloves of garlic. Melt the butter in a deep pan with a tight-fitting lid. Add the shallots and the garlic and allow to soften, but not colour
Allow the mussels to drain in a colander for 5 minutes, but keep the liquid. Strain this liquid through a fine sieve and keep to one side
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Sort through the mussels and discard any that haven't opened. Remove the meat from the shells and set aside, discarding the shells
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Bring the strained stock from the mussels to a simmer. In a small bowl, mix together the softened butter and the flour and gradually whisk this into the stock. It should thicken almost instantly
50g of butter, softened
2 tbsp of flour
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Add the turmeric, milk and cream. Cook for about 5 minutes before adding lemon juice to taste and salt, if needed. Then leave to cool until you're ready to serve
To make the spinach mousse, cook the spinach until tender and squeeze out any excess water. Blitz the eggs and spinach together with a hand blender or in a jug blender
Butter 4 x 2.5cm moulds and refrigerate until the butter is hard. Then repeat and chill again
butter for greasing
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While waiting for the moulds, preheat the oven to 120°C/Gas mark 1. Once the butter has hardened, pour in the spinach mix until three-quarters full. Place the moulds on a tray and into the oven
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Check after 10 minutes. You want the mix to set, but not to rise too much (just above the top of the moulds). When they're set, leave to rest for 5 minutes
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While the spinach mousse is resting, bring the mussel stock up to a simmer. Dice the tomatoes and add, then add the mussel meat. Leave on the heat for about a minute before removing
Unmould the spinach mousses by running a knife around the edge of each one and gently shaking the mousse directly onto the centre of each plate. Spread the mussel curry around the edge and serve
