Stuffed Mussels Two Ways

Unfortunately, the fishing hasn’t been all that great for Wilson Fish this year. They’ve had to deal with bad weather and small catches. Some days the Coast Guard won’t even let them go out to fish. So our diets, which usually consist of primarily salmon this time of year, have been turning to other seafood, such as the tasty mussels and clams from Oyster Bill at  Taylor Shellfish. 

I feel a bit like this site has turned into the Asparagus and Shellfish Manifesto, and if you’re allergic or simply don’t like shellfish or asparagus, well, I am truly sorry for the repetition. In just a few weeks, we’ll have a lot more variety as we start a new series aptly named “Cooking Out of the Box”. We’ll be cooking a week’s worth of meals out of our CSA box and chronicling our results along the way. You can expect recipes for just about every type of fruit and vegetable grown in Puget Sound, as well as ways to use a little bit of meat to flavor a dish without having the meat be the main focus of the dish. 

Stuffed Mussels

But for today, we return to shellfish. Specifically, mussels. We’ve had good luck simply steaming them and serving them with sauce, but this weekend, I wanted something a little special. So I present to you, stuffed mussels, ala Eddy. 

Patricia’s Stuffed Mussels, two ways

• 2 pounds of mussels
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (Panko are best)
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 pinches Lavender Rosemary Salt from Secret Stash Salt
• 1 leek

1. Approximately 1 hour before serving, scrub and debeard the mussels. 

2. In a large pot, heat the water and white wine to a gentle boil. Add the mussels and cook until they have opened. Discard any that haven’t opened. 

3. Transfer the mussels to a strainer and let them cool. 

4. Chop the leek and mince the rosemary. 

5. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the rosemary, leeks, and salt. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the leeks are soft. 

6. Mix in the breadcrumbs and remove the pan from the heat. 

Now, here’s where the two ways comes in. You can chop up the mussels and mix the mussel meat with the breadcrumb mixture, or you can leave the mussels intact. 

To leave mussels whole:

1. Remove one half of the mussel shell (the part without the mussel attached) and discard. 

2. Lay the other half (with the mussel attached) in a baking dish and spoon some of the breadcrumb mixture on top. 

3. Repeat for the rest of the mussels and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are nice and toasty.

To chop the mussels

1. Remove one half of the mussel shell and discard most of them, but save 5 or 6.

2. Remove the mussel from the other half of the shell and lay the shell in a baking dish. Repeat for the remaining mussels. 

3. Chop the mussels and mix in with the breadcrumb mixture. 

4. Spoon the mixture into the mussel shells. You will likely end up with more filling than shells, so grab a couple of those halfs that we had you reserve above. 

5. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until toasty. 

Chef’s Notes: We liked both preparations, but would probably pick the whole mussels over the chopped ones if forced to choose. The chopped mussels didn’t quite give the right meat to breadcrumb ratio. The next time we make this recipe, we may chop 5 or 6 of the mussels and mix the meat in with the breadcrumb mixture and use that to top the whole mussels. I think that would be the best of both worlds.