Even though I cook through the week, it’s our weekends that I look forward to the most. Whether we are entertaining or it’s just the two of us, I like to plan a nice meal.
And when I say nice, it doesn’t mean a long time in the kitchen…just a few key quality ingredients.
Saturday mornings are usually spent at one of our local markets. These markets fuel me with menu ideas. I had two meals in mind when we visited the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market. Having picked up a few things we then headed over to Local Source where I hoped Hana would have fresh swordfish. She didn’t (insert sad face). But when I saw she had halibut fish cheeks, all was forgiven. The fish cheeks arrived that morning and would last three days or I could freeze them for later. I quickly changed gears from what I had originally planned and decided to make this mussel dish Saturday night and fish on Monday. And, what pleases me more, we bought locally without breaking the bank.
Serves 2 to 4
slightly adapted from Franny’s
1 lb. Nova Scotia mussels, rinsed under cold tap water
2 fennel sausages
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
splash of olive oil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
14 oz. can chopped Italian tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
1 cup of canned cannellini beans (rinsed and drained)
1 cup white wine
large handful Italian parsley, roughly chopped
In a large pot heat olive oil over medium heat. Squeeze sausage meat out of casing and add to the pot. Cook until no longer pink. Add garlic and stir to combine. Toss in fennel seeds with chili pepper flakes and stir. Allow fennel seeds to become fragrant then add wine and let cook 5 minutes before adding the tomatoes. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Add cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans) and turn heat up. Place mussels on top, cover, and cook 5 or 6 minutes until the shells open. Spoon mussels into large bowls topped with parsley and toasted bread. Drizzle your best extra-virgin olive oil over and serve. Bellissimo!
The Culinary Chase’s Note: Scrub the ‘beards’ off the mussels shortly before cooking them. Discard any shells that don’t open after cooking. If you can’t find fennel sausages use ground pork and add more fennel seeds. Enjoy!
- 1 lb. Nova Scotia mussels, rinsed under cold tap water
- 2 fennel sausages
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- splash of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 14 oz. can chopped Italian tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon chili pepper flakes
- 1 cup of canned cannellini beans (rinsed and drained)
- 1 cup white wine
- large handful Italian parsley, roughly chopped
- In a large pot heat olive oil over medium heat. Squeeze sausage meat out of casing and add to the pot. Cook until no longer pink.
- Add garlic and stir to combine. Toss in fennel seeds with chili pepper flakes and stir. Allow fennel seeds to become fragrant then add wine and let cook 5 minutes before adding the tomatoes. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans) and turn heat up. Place mussels on top, cover, and cook 5 or 6 minutes until the shells open. Spoon mussels into large bowls topped with parsley and toasted bread. Drizzle your best extra-virgin olive oil over and serve. Bellissimo!
The post Nova Scotia Mussels – Italian style appeared first on The Culinary Chase.
