Mussels in Tomato Sauce Recipe

Mejillones en Salsa de Tomate
There are many recipes for cooking mussels where the main difference is the sauce. This is my favourite. For a spicy dish you should use hot paprika and for a milder dish use sweet paprika.

Mussels ingredients

Serves 4 main courses or 6 – 8 starters

• 2 ½kg mussels
• 2 large onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (450g)
• 1 glass of white wine
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• oregano
• black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• olive oil
• crusty bread

Cooking Method

First find a large pan with a lid. Heat some olive oil in the pan and add the onions and garlic and let them fry gentle for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile clean the mussels. Remove the beards and clean the outside of the shells – some people like to scrape the shells to get them spotless but I don’t think you need to go to overboard. Throw out any that are broken or that don’t close when you touch them. You could soak them in cold, salty water for a while which might make them open and lose any grains of sand inside them.
Once the onions have been frying for 20 minutes add all the other ingredients except the mussels and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and gently boil for about 10 or 15 minutes to let all the flavours come out.

Turn the heat back up, add the mussels and cover. Leave to boil for about 5 minutes until the shells open.

Serve in large bowls with plenty of fresh crusty bread to soak up the wonderful sauce.