Moules Marinière (Mussels in a Cream Sauce)
This is the ultimate in healthy fast food. Packed with healthy nutrients and on the table in minutes. So quick, so easy, so yummy!
My husband and I LOVE mussels (I grew up in Belgium, after all), but the kids were wary (as kids often are) until recently.
What changed it was an excellent lesson in how to get kids to eat healthier foods for me.
We went out for lunch with my parents to a lovely French restaurant a few weeks ago. I spotted moules frites on the menu and couldn’t resist. The kids menu wasn’t quite as depressing as other restaurants usually are, so we ordered some sandwiches with a side salad for the children that I figured they would enjoy.
When my food arrived, my two-year-old son asked if he could try one of my mussels. I wasn’t going to turn down this opportunity! So I opened one for him and showed him how to scoop it out of the shell with his teeth. He loved this – sensory food they can get stuck into with their hands and senses is, in my experience, far more appealing to children – and quickly asked for a second. Before I knew it, him and his three-and-a-half-year-old sister had munched their way through nearly half of my big bowl of mussels! I suggested they switch to their sandwiches for a bit, but within minutes my son’s hand was back in my bowl, dipping his sandwich in the cream and parsley sauce.
It would have been nice to eat more of my own lunch, but I certainly didn’t mind missing out on a few mussels for the sake of my kids enjoying some nutrient dense seafood over their reformed ham!
Eager to replicate this at home, I set about making a dish I haven’t made in quite a while. My husband was thrilled to hear one of his favourite meals, moules marinère, would be on the menu, and we turned it into a feast to celebrate our son’s baptism day a couple of weeks later. I got my boy to help me out with cleaning and tapping the mussels to check they were ok. He adored being involved in the meal preparation (he always eats better when he’s taken part in cooking) and found it a really fun activity to take part in. Everyone tucked into the meal and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Although it was yummy, the live mussels we had bought from the fish counter of a local supermarket hadn’t quite lived up to the delicious ones we had had at the restaurant. We had to chuck a few before cooking and even more after cooking. A few were a bit “slimy” rather than meaty, as mussels are supposed to be. So we put it back in the meal plan for the following week and made the effort to go to a local fishmongers 15 mins drive from us which has lovely live Scottish mussels that looked really nice.
It made all the difference. Suddenly the kids ate twice as many mussels as they had the previous time, we didn’t chuck a single one before cooking and only a couple were “slimy” enough to be chucked after. Almost all of them were meaty, tender and delicious.
I’m often amazed how quality ingredients and different cooking methods can mean the difference between someone (particularly kids) liking or not liking a dish. I have never liked mushrooms, but have been training my tastebuds to get used to them over the last couple of years. I try them almost every time they are offered, and have moved from gagging the minute they are in my mouth to genuinely enjoying some. Part of this has been continually trying them and getting my tastebuds used to them, but it has also been heavily influenced by the types of mushroom, where they came from, and how they were prepared. I discovered I quite like good quality chestnut mushrooms raw, or certain Chinese mushrooms in soups or stews. I have found out that button mushrooms are best when sliced thinly and fried in generous amounts of butter, olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs.
I figure that it has to be the same for my kids. So maybe they don’t like steamed broccoli, but stick it in a white sauce in a vegetable crumble, and they devour it! Not fans of boiled sprouts? Maybe they’d rather have them fried in butter with bacon or finely sliced and raw in a grain-based salad.
I’ve tried mussels in a paella with my kids before, and they were not impressed (after having a couple spat into my hand I thought it best to give up). But when they got to get their hands dirty (literally) and have a hands on version with the shells and lots of yummy creamy sauce they could scoop up with the empty shells, they munched their way through dozens of them without blinking while making yummy noises!
And for me? Well, I’m sold: it’s cheap, ridiculously easy and super quick to prepare (you can have the whole thing on the table in 10 mins once you’ve cleaned the mussels), healthy, and delicious.
And if you are unsure about cleaning and preparing the mussels, ask your fishmonger or watch Rick Stein’s video below – it’s far easier than you expect, and while the first time might take you a bit longer, it gets easier and quicker each time you do it!
The ultimate in healthy fast food, this is a great family dinner - affordable, packed with nutrients, and great for getting seafood in kids as it is so tactile and fun!
- 1.5 kg (3 lbs) live mussels (the better the quality, the tastier and easier to prepare they will be!)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter (or olive oil)
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 sticks of celery, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely diced/minced
- 1 leek, finely sliced
- 1 bag of fresh spinach
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine or dry vermouth (you can use veg or fish stock in its place if you like, but white wine/vermouth is nicest)
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) double (heavy) cream
- large handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- crusty wholemeal or sourdough bread, steamed greens and/or salad, to serve
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Before cooking, check and clean your mussels. Rinse all of them well, then go through and check each one, making sure any that are open will shut if you give them a sharp tap on the counter, or you squeeze them shut. Pull off any "beards" (the ropey bits) by pulling down sharply, and use a sharp knife to scrape off any barnacles or dirt off the messiest ones. Rinse again before using within an hour of cleaning. When I've got good-quality live mussels from a fishmonger, this has taken me as little as 10-15 mins. When I've got a pack from a supermarket that weren't great, they not only didn't taste as good, but they also took me well over half an hour to clean! There was no difference in price either, so make sure you hunt down the good ones.
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Once the mussels are clean and ready, heat the butter in a large deep pot or pan (it should have a lid and be big enough to hold all of the mussels). Gently fry the onion, celery, garlic and leek over low-medium heat for 3-5 mins until softened. Season with salt & pepper, then add the spinach and wine or vermouth, along with the cleaned mussels. Put the lid on the pot and cook the mussels for 3-5 mins, until the mussels are open and cooked. Take off the heat and pour over the cream and parsley.
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Serve with a bowl for the empty shells, and alongside crusty bread to dip in the cream sauce and a side salad or steamed greens. I love this with steamed purple sprouting broccoli drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with salt & pepper, and sprinkled with lemon juice and fresh sliced red chilli.
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