Roasted mussels with Piccolo tomatoes and chorizo

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Rachel Phipps's roasted mussel and Piccolo tomato recipe makes a vibrant, full-flavoured dish; the combined juices melding with punchy chorizo to create a heady sauce that the crispy croutons make light work of soaking up.

First published in 2015

When I first read a recipe for roasted mussels, the idea that you could cook them in a way other than steaming both blew my mind and made me wonder why I had not thought about something seemingly so obvious before now. I’ve been trying not to beat myself up too much over not figuring this out by myself, though. When I told my fishmonger what I was planning on doing with the mussels he was wrapping up for me he’d never heard of anyone roasting them either.

When I was thinking about what to roast my mussels with and serve them with, I remembered a slightly Spanish iteration of a Moules à la Provençale (Mussels with tomato, herbs and garlic, cooked as if it were a Moules Marinière) with chorizo I had one Summer a few years ago in Brittany. The chorizo pieces give the dish a slightly rich, if not smoky flavour and go delightfully well with the sweetness of the tiny Piccolo tomatoes. The giant homemade crouton base is perfect for mopping up the clear, chorizo and tomato infused mussel juices and is also a great way to use up old, borderline stale loaves.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Method

1
Preheat the grill to 150°C. Place the mussels in water to soak off any grit
2
While your mussels are soaking, tear up the bread and spread it across a baking sheet. You’ll need a few good chunks each, but any extra can be used in a simple Panzanella
3
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Toast under the grill until golden – this should take about 10–15 minutes
4
Preheat the oven to 250°C/gas mark 9
5
While the oven is heating up, wash and de-beard the mussels. Dry excess water from the mussels with kitchen towel and scatter across a deep-rimmed baking sheet (the mussels give off a fair bit of liquid) with the tomatoes and the chorizo pieces
6
Roast in the oven for 10–15 minutes until the mussels have opened and the tomato skins have split
7
Discard any mussels that have not opened. Divide the giant croutons between two bowls and spoon over the roasted mussels, tomatoes, chorizo pieces and their juices. Sprinkle liberally with freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley and serve immediately
First published in 2015

Rachel is a food writer, splitting time between the Kentish and French countrysides.

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