For the first recipe on This Girl Eats, I thought I may as well go all out and post one of my absolute favourites! Peaking too soon?!

Moules marinière is essentially mussels in white wine and garlic sauce… and it’s delicious when done well!

Admittedly, it’s taken a little while to get this one right. As someone who will religiously order mussels whenever they’re on the menu,  I was a little bit disappointed when my first few attempts weren’t all that great. Not enough garlic, too watery, not enough shallots, too beardy or gritty… the list goes on. But I got there in the end… and these are pretty special!

This recipe should probably serve about three people… but I’m greedy and find it works well for two as a main.

Tip: I’d recommend buying fresh mussels from the fish counter in Waitrose. They’re kept on ice, come in a net bag, and are so much better than the cooked-then-vacuum-packed ones.

Ingredients

• 1kg bag of rope-grown mussels
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped (I prefer the long, banana ones as they’re easier to cut up!)
• 25g butter
• 150ml double cream
• 75cl mini bottle of Chablis, or other very dry white wine
• Handful parsley
• Crusty bread

Method

1. Sort through the mussels and remove any that are broken or damaged. Give any open ones a little tap – if they don’t close then get rid of them, too.
2. Put the mussels into a colander in the sink and rinse thoroughly. Go through them one by one and remove any beards – these are the stringy bits that stick out of the shells. Some can be a bit tough! Rinse again.
3. Chop the garlic, shallots and parsley. Add the garlic and shallots to a large saucepan (make sure you have the lid handy) with the butter and about half of the parsley. Cook over a medium heat until softened.
4. Add the mussels to the pan and give a quick stir.
5. Pour in the white wine, put the lid on the saucepan, and turn up the heat. You want the wine to heat up quickly to create the steam that cooks the mussels.
6. After about 3-4 minutes, you should be able to see the mussels opening up, which means they’re ready.
7. Turn the heat right down and add the cream – be careful not to let it boil. Shake up the pan to coat the mussels in the sauce. Sprinkle the remaining parsley over the top as a garnish.
8. Serve in bowls with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.