Italian BBQ mussels

Whilst at Giraffe they did a wonderful mussel dish with tomato and cheese that were crumbed, as we come to the end of the BBQ season I’m giving you my interpretation of their dish using our kiwi green lip mussels which are sensational in their own right. Having a good tomato sauce in your freezer is the start of so many dishes; this recipe below is the best! Freeze it in small batches. You’ll freak about the amount of Olive oil in this recipe, but that is what is going this sauce the love.

Ingredients

3 ½ kgs	Mussels, or 600 grams mussel meat (Main)
100 ml	White wine
75 g	Grated parmesan cheese
20 g	Breadcrumbs, (4 Tbsp)
1 cup	Tomato sauce, (recipe below) (Main)

Ingredients

80 ml	Extra virgin olive oil (Main)
3	Garlic cloves, (8grams), finely sliced
1	Onion, (140 grams), finely diced
1 handful	Oregano, (5 grams), roughly chopped
2	Bay leaves
550 g	Tomato passata (Main)
2 tins	Italian tomatoes, (400g each), skinless (Main)
1 Tbsp	Manuka honey
500 ml	Vegetable stock, or chicken stock
1 tsp	Cracked pepper
1 tsp	Salt
1 handful	Fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Clean the mussels and place in a large saucepan with the white wine, cover and bring to the wine to a simmer.
2. With a spoon rotate the mussels in the white wine, as the mussels open remove from the saucepan allowing them to cool.
3. Discard any mussels that don't open.
4. When cool remove the mussel meat from the shells, keeping one side of the shell to serve the mussel in.
5. Remove the tongues and the main round mussel.
6. In a bowl mix together the 2/3 of parmesan, breadcrumbs and tomato sauce.
7. Stuff a little of the sauce into each mussel, then place it back in the half shell.
8. Top with the remaining sauce mix and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
9. When you're ready to serve heat the BBQ and then place the mussels on the grill to heat through till the sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted.

See more of Simon's delicious recipes

• BBQ figs with goat's cheese and prosciutto
• Beef cheek crockpot ragu with pappardelle