Recipe: Mussels with Wheat Beer

For a long time my sister lived in Tassie and I would often escape down there for long weekends, just out of Bicheno. The regions clean seas make way for some of the freshest seafood one can buy and it was something I always looked forward to. Mum and I have been making mussels with tomato broth for as long as I can remember, but it’s only been in recent years that we’ve started playing around with it. Wheat Beer has such beautiful aromatics and is just the perfect complement – the complexity of flavours change as the broth cooks and once the mussels are added – you get a beautiful saltiness. You can really play around with this and certainly add more vegetables if you would like to transform the broth into a heartier soup. Ideal in the cooler months with fresh bread of course – Tasmanian Mussels will never disappoint.

As long as you have a pot, a BBQ and a few readily available ingredients – you’re good to go!

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Recipe: Mussels with Wheat Beer

Rating  5.0 from 2 reviews

Prep time:  14 mins

Cook time:  45 mins

Total time:  59 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 40g butter (lightly salted)
• ½ leek, finely sliced
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 long red chilli, finely sliced
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 medium tomatoes, diced
• 330ml Wheat Beer
• 60ml sweet chilli sauce
• ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 500ml vegetable stock
• 2kg mussels
• Salt and pepper, season to taste

Instructions

1. Clean the mussels by rinsing them under cold water, scrubbing them and removing the “beard”. Throw away any mussels that are open, broken or damaged.
2. Heat butter in a large pot over the BBQ, wait for it to simmer and then add garlic, shallot, leek and chilli. Cook until soft and fragrant.
3. Add tomatoes, wheat beer, sweet chilli sauce, and parsley, stock and lemon juice. Bring to boil, drop back heat and simmer partially covered for 30-40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add mussels and cook covered for 5 minutes (or until mussels are open).
5. Distribute mussels among bowls, pour a little broth over each and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with beautiful fresh bread.

3.5.3217