This was one of those meals that I knew was going to be good before I even made it. One of those messy, but delicious bread-sopping-up-sauce kind of meals. And it did not disappoint.
Since it was only going to be the two of us for dinner, I halved the recipe and bought 2 pounds of mussels. Turned out this would have been enough for 4 or more because I served it with linguine and there was enough for leftovers. I thought I would be a little squeamish scrubbing the mussels, but I only squealed once when I grabbed a mussel and it was open. I tapped it on the counter a few times and left it there thinking it must be dead, but by the time I finished scrubbing the rest of the mussels, its shell had closed. I only had to debeard three of them, so I didn't think that was bad at all. I don't think I would have enjoyed debearding all 2 pounds.
When I served it, I left the mussels in their shells because I didn't want the linguine to get cold and we ate it for a bit and while we enjoyed it, we discovered that we enjoyed this dish much more when we scooped the mussels from their shells and could just eat the pasta, mussels, and sauce without having to fiddle with the shells. The sauce is so flavorful with tomatoes, red bell pepper, onions, garlic, some chorizo, and chardonnay.
John really enjoyed the mussels and chorizo sauce and I realized later that even though I had halved the recipe, when I added the chardonnay I used the full amount (3/4 cup), so probably had more wine and sauce than should have been, but with the pasta it was perfect. John said he would have probably enjoyed it more as a soup instead of with the pasta. I, on the other hand, really thought it was delicious with the pasta and loved the drunken sauce soaked garlic bread.
You can find this recipe on page 316 of Around My French Table. Visit the other Doristas and see what they thought of this recipe over at French Fridays with Dorie.
This one certainly was messy. When I first set the table I put out nice cloth napkins, but luckily I rethought that just in time and substituted a big pile of paper towels. Good thing!
ReplyDeleteYours looks absolutely delicious with the pasta. We also halved the recipe, and even without the pasta we found it to be too much. I think the sausage also bulks it up quite a bit.
I've heard about the wonderful mussel chorizo combination but have yet to try it. Looks great, and lucky for you there was plenty of it
ReplyDeleteTHis one was messy, for sure. I found that I enjoyed this better the second day after I had removed the mussels from their shells and tossed everything together.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Wow. Your dish and photos look amazing!
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a mussels fan, but I enjoyed reading about how you prepared them for this recipe. It's always great going outside of our comfort zones to try something new, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds absolutely delicious.... I'm jealous!!!
ReplyDeleteYou had both pasta AND bread to soak up the drunken sauce :). Now that's what I call a really fulfilling meal! This looks great, Elaine...hope you'll have a beautiful weekend!
ReplyDeleteYour meal looks perfect. I need to have time to hunt for fresh mussels so I did a catch up for today...but seeing your results make me want to try this project soon. Beautifully done.
ReplyDeleteElaine, Your dinner looks wonderfully delicious! Love your photos! There's nothing like those bread sopping up sauce type meals, yum! I also halved the mussels and chorizo but not the sauce. It was still perfect...we loved this dish! Have a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteWe're pigs. Our 4 lbs. served 3 of us without leftovers. lol. I couldn't get enough!
ReplyDeletePasta and bread? Atta girl.
Whenever I see a recipe like this I'm reminded that I need to be more adventurous! I would have said to myself that I wouldn't like the combination of mussels and chorizo, but I can't tell you how good you've made this look and sound!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful meal! I halved the ingredients, too, since there were three of us and I wasn't sure if one would even like it! Turns out, she did, and the leftovers will be wonderful for lunch.
ReplyDeleteThe browned up bits of chorizo look perfectly scattered among the linguine. I'm guilty of forgetting to half/double ingredients when altering proportions - glad to hear full portion of wine worked out! (when doesn't it?)
ReplyDeleteWe only made one pound for two of us since we make oysters and had some delicious cheesy ciabatta with it as well! :)
ReplyDeleteAlice @ http://acookingmizer.wordpress
Wow, this is so impressive! Everything looks beautiful and delicious! Especially the pasta. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree - bread at the table 'should' be soaking up something or another. So glad the halved recipe worked perfectly - what a lovely meal!
Two pounds of mussels for two people is quite a bit- good thing these were so delcious, huh? I love mussels and the addition of chorizo and pasta sounds divine!
ReplyDeleteThis looks fab Elaine! Funny story - I thought the bearsd would be external in their entirety, so I didn't think I needed to debeard my mussels. Went to eat a bowl of mussels - and found out that mine definitely had beards - yuk! Think merkin. A rookie mistake which I will never make again.
ReplyDeleteGood job on the accidentally drunken sauce. I ate the first night with bread, and then pulled the mussel meat out of the shells for the pasta leftovers. I agree it's much easier to eat that way. I'm glad this was a hit at your house. I loved it!
ReplyDeleteWe loved this dish! I love an easy meal. I'm glad there were no beards on our mussels, or else it wouldn't have seemed so easy!
ReplyDeleteYou have done a great job. That just looks delicious. I think you have the ratios of pasta to mussels to sauce to chorizo just right - the Italians would love this.
ReplyDeleteThis was good and not as intimidating as I thought it would be!
ReplyDeleteDon't you just love drunken bread! I love mussels, and agree with you that they are easier to eat with the pasta without the shells. Looks terrific!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a fabulous meal! Your pictures really capture the deliciousness.
ReplyDeleteCooking mussels kind of scares me. I might have to try this though!
ReplyDeleteI halved the recipe, too, and was able to feed five people (with pasta and bread). I just realized today, though, that I used the full amount of vegetables, which helps to explain why it went so far. Loved this dish and now that I know how easy it is to prepare mussels at home, we'll be having them regularly.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a wonderful meal - the table looks great.
I'm so happy so many of us loved this dish!!! Now that I have chorizo in the freezer, I will definitely make it again :)
ReplyDeleteI think it looks like a delicious meal but yes, for two people it does look like a lot of food. Cleaning and scrubbing mussels can be a lot of work but it is so worth it because a dish like this is just delicious and something you can keep on eating well after you're full!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of taking the mussels out of the shells before adding them to the pasta. So much easier to eat. The shells are pretty, though.
ReplyDeleteYup, I agree that I enjoyed mine like soup too. The broth is just so flavourful without even adding any salt. I really enjoy how we conquered our fear of preparing mussels in our different ways.
ReplyDeleteCan you really have TOO much wine in a dish!!! Knew I should have made this one.
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