MUSSELS IN A SAFFRON SAUCE

This is a quick dish to prepare, with mussels served in a slightly different way from how we normally find in them restaurants.

Saffron is popular in this part of the country as an ingredient for cakes or buns but it is a great way to accompany any seafood. It goes well with a lot of ingredients, and its delicious, intense Middle Eastern aroma can bring out flavours from the surrounding ingredients. The best saffron comes from Iran and the best way to purchase saffron is in threads; if you don’t find threads, you may buy powder, but this is normally lower quality.

Ingredients (serves 6):

½ Kg / 1lb fresh mussels shell on

1 chopped onion

1 bay leaf

1 glass white wine

4tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 bunch of parsley, chopped and washed

1 pinch of saffron threads

Method:

Carefully scrape the mussel shells, rinse thoroughly under cold running water, scrape to remove any debris on the outer shell and de-beard them. Tap a few times any mussels that are open and if they do not close, discard them: they are probably dead.

Transfer to a large stew pan. Add the parsley, bay leaf and onion. Pour in the white wine and allow to evaporate. Cover and cook the mussels on a high heat until they open. Discard any shells that do not open.

Drain the mussels, divide among serving plates and keep warm. Filter the cooking liquid, put it back into the pan on a high heat; emulsify with olive oil, add the saffron and infuse for a few minutes while the liquid reduces and the saffron turns the emulsion into and amazing red-golden, delicious sauce.

Pour the resulting sauce over the mussels and serve immediately.