Wonderful soup with mussels and vegetables. Beautiful flavors and textures.

1. http://www.tastesofhealth.eu/2015/11/mussel-soup-with-vegetables.html
Mussel Soup with Vegetables
www.tastesofhealth.eu
Fresh mussels are not widely available in shops here so whenever I go shopping and see
them at the counter, I straightaway buy them. As you may know from my earlier posts, I
am still a rookie as far as mussel recipes are concerned because I have prepared them
only in two ways so far: with white wine and pasta.
Therefore when I bought them last time, I wanted to prepare them differently and
cooking a soup with mussels seemed to be an idea worth pursuing. And it certainly was
as the result proved it – this soup was a hit: delightful taste of mussels, loads of
vegetables, some of them softer but other ones, like pepper and celery, wonderfully
crunchy. Plus also all the warm colors of the ingredients. We all loved it and I will
definitely make it (many times) again!

2. http://www.tastesofhealth.eu/2015/11/mussel-soup-with-vegetables.html
INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):
1 kg fresh mussels,
150ml dry white wine,
400ml water,
2 tbsp butter,
1 small red onion, thinly chopped,
1 small leek (about 60g), thinly sliced,
1 medium carrot (about 120g), thinly chopped,
2 tomatoes (about 200g), peeled, deseeded and thinly chopped,
2 garlic cloves, crushed,
1 handful of parsley leaves, thinly chopped,
1 handful of basil leaves, thinly chopped,
1 celery stick, thinly sliced,
0.5 red pepper, deseeded and thinly chopped,
100ml single cream,
Salt and pepper.
METHOD:
1. Prepare the mussels:
* rinse them very well in cold water.
* take a mussel: if it is damaged, discard it straight away and if it is open, give it a
vigorous tap. If it stays open, discard.
* if a mussel is closed (or closes after tapping), wash it and scrape off with a knife any
barnacles; remove “beard” that may be between the two shells.
* repeat the above with all the mussels.
* rinse all of them again.
2. Pour 75ml of wine and 150ml of water to a big pot, put the mussels there, bring
everything to boil and cook covered for 4-5 minutes.
3. Transfer with a slotted spoon the cooked mussels to a bowl and leave till cool enough
to handle.
4. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve, layered with a cloth to eliminate any sand
and impurities.
5. In the same pot (rinsed) melt the butter, add the chopped onion, leek, carrot, tomato
and garlic; fry for 2 minutes on medium-high heat.
6. Lower the heat down and fry the vegetables for 3 minutes longer, then add the
reserved cooking liquid, the rest of wine (75ml) and of the water (250ml), the
chopped parsley and basil and cook for approx. 10 minutes (till carrots are no longer
hard).
7. Remove the mussels from their shells but leave a few for garnish.
8. Add the mussels, celery, red pepper, cream* and seasoning and serve the soup.
*In the original recipe double cream was used. I used single cream that worked very well
but to make sure it doesn’t split when you add it to the soup, you should at first add a
few spoons of the liquid to the cream, mix it well and only then add to the soup while
stirring it.
The above dish is based on a recipe from “The New Fish Cooking Encyclopedia” by Kate
Whiteman

3. http://www.tastesofhealth.eu/2015/11/mussel-soup-with-vegetables.html