Food & Drink M


Written by David & Holly Jones manafromdevon.com Tel.01803 752943


ussels are such a great staple to enjoy, especially at this time of year – succulent, fresh and able to take on lots of flavours. They are a


great source of protein and also high in zinc, folic acid and vitamin B12. Super flexible you can cook them in a variety of ways – think paella; moules marinieres heavy with garlic, parsley and white wine; or a local version with bacon and cider, maybe some cream; or spiced up with Indian or Thai flavours; in open tarts; with pasta. They are also great served at room temperature as a starter or part of a tapas selection and we love cooking this version of them in the woodfired oven when they take on some flavour of wood smoke too; we’ve used apple and cherry wood both to great effect. Don’t worry though - the recipe is written for regular kitchens!


Mussels a la plancha


• 1kg/2.2lb fresh mussels, picked over and rinsed (discard any beards from the mussels and any with broken shells)


• 3tbsp olive oil


• 1 small red onion, peeled and very finely chopped


• 1 small red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped


• 3 large ripe tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped


• Juice of half a lemon • 1tbsp chopped fresh parsley


• Salt and pepper


1. Heat the oven to 200C/Gas mark 6. 2. Put the mussels in a large roasting tin in one layer or use 2 tins if you haven’t got one big enough. Put the tin in the oven and shut the door. Bake the mussels until they are completely opened up.


3. While the mussels are cooking, put the oil, onions, tomatoes and chilli in a small pan and cook gently on the hob until the veggies are starting to soften – this will take about 6-8 minutes. The oil just needs to warm them through – you’re not trying to fry the veggies at a high sizzle.


4. Take the tomato mixture off the heat and turn it into a bowl. Stir in the chopped parsley and lemon juice and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix all this together to make the salsa.


5. When the mussels have opened up, take them out of the oven, take off the shell with no meat in (and discard this shell) and spoon the salsa over the cooked mussels in the remaining shells.


6. Serve at once with some good bread to mop up the delicious, smokey, oily juices.


Don’t forget it’s Dartmouth Food Festival. We’ll be running our hands-on workshops in Royal Avenue Gardens again and have lots of different things to try – breadmaking, fish cookery, curry, chocolate truffles, Vietnamese pancakes, pasta making, salads, knife skills; so much going on. Do make sure you book in online for the workshops and we look forward to seeing you there.


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