Mussel fritters

Tam West

Ingredients

¼ cup	White wine
2 kgs	Live mussels, scrubbed and debearded (Main)
1	Shallot, very finely chopped
1	Lemon, use the zest only
3 Tbsp	Flat leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 Tbsp	Basil leaves, torn
3	Eggs, separated
½ cup	Chickpea flour
½ tsp	Baking powder
1 drizzle	Oil, for frying
3	Lemon wedges, for squeezing

Directions

1. Heat the wine in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add half the mussels and cook until they begin to open. Remove mussels as they open to prevent them overcooking. Cook the remaining mussels. Discard any that do not open.
2. Remove mussels from their shells, discarding the brown tongues, and reserve the cooking liquor. Leave to cool.
3. Chop the mussels into rough dice. Place in a bowl with the shallot, lemon zest and herbs.
4. Lightly whisk the egg yolks with 2-3 tablespoons of the reserved cooking liquor. Add to the mussel mixture and stir to combine.
5. Mix together the chickpea flour and baking powder and stir into the mussel mixture. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form and fold 1 tablespoonful into the mussel mixture to loosen, then carefully fold in the remaining egg whites.
7. Lightly coat the base of a frying pan with oil and heat until hot. Drop 4 tablespoonfuls of the mussel mixture into the pan and cook for about 2 minutes on each side until golden and cooked in the centre. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
8. Serve mussel fritters with bread and butter and a tomato sauce. A green salad is good here too.

Pantry notes

Discard any mussels with broken shells.
You can use plain flour rather than chickpea flour. The chickpea flour gives an earthy flavour to the mussel fritters.
Try making these fritters with clams, they are delicious.