Stuffed Mussels

One of the true labour saving products I'm come to enjoy over the last six months are these vacuum packets of scrubbed, cleaned and de-bearded mussels. While there are several suppliers in the market for this dish I've used Kinkawooka Mussels.



Before I continue with the recipe I'll like to point you to an interesting read about the fallacy of "throwing a closed mussel away". We all are told that if you cook mussels and there are some that are still closed you have to throw them away because they are bad. According to the research and this only applies to Australian farmed mussels, that isn't right and it's perfectly fine to pry them open and eat them.

What you should really be looking for are mussels that are open and won't close before they are cooked because they are the ones that you shouldn't be eating. It's an interesting article and you'll find out who actually started the whole fear of closed mussels.

I'll be using these mussels to make a dish of baked stuffed mussles - they will be lightly steamed to open and then topped in a mix of chorizo, fresh breadcrumbs and parsley.

The chorizo I've used is also quite interesting and is one of my most recent finds - Goat chorizo



If you head off to Prahran market this week you'll find this and other goat products at the Taste of Victoria stand. This is produced from farmed goats in Tallarook. As you can see it has that lovely colour from paprika and is quite moist and juicy. You can of course just use a regular chorizo for this recipe.



Baked Stuffed Mussels

1kg prepared mussels
1 chorizo
2 slices day old bread
handful fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped
finely grated parmesan

Make the topping:

Dice the chorizo into tiny cubes. Heat a little oil in a skillet over a medium-low heat and tip in the chorizo. Cook slowly until golden - you want the chorizo to release some of it's lovely paprika colour juices.

Rip the bread and place into a processor - process until finely chopped. Add this to the chorizo and stir well. Cook for a few moments so that it absorbs the cooking juices.

Remove from the heat and place in a bowl. Add in the parsley and parmesan and stir well to combine.

Prepare the mussels:

Rinse the mussels and check to make sure they are all shut. Place a steamer over a pot of boiling water - add one layer of mussels into the steamer and steam just until they begin to open. Remove the mussels as they open. Repeat the process until all the mussels have been steamed open.

Open the cooked mussels - discard the empty half. Loosen the mussel from the shell and place on a tray.



They are now ready to be stuffed.

Top each mussel with enough filling to cover it completely.



Arrange them on a baking tray and place them is an preheated 160°C oven for about 5 minutes or until they are heated through.



Serve at once with fresh lemon quarters.