Steamed Mussels With Tomatoes and Chorizo

By Sam Sifton

Steamed Mussels With Tomatoes and Chorizo
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.Times
Rating
4(269)
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

Simplicity itself, if you can find a bag of mussels at the store. Scrub and debeard them as necessary. Then grab a big pot, and use it to sauté some cubed chorizo in olive oil over medium-high heat. When it starts to crisp, add a few handfuls of halved cherry tomatoes and a clove or two of chopped garlic. Let the tomatoes blister in the fat, then add the mussels and a glass of white wine. Cover the pot and allow the mussels to steam open. (If at the end you have mussels that haven’t opened, ditch them: They’re dead.) Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with plenty of toast for the sopping.

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4 out of 5
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Comments

stephanie

yes, but, once you've cooked everything, ALL the mussels will be dead. in a good way. you know, because you've cooked them. *before* you cook them, toss any that have broken shells or are open and don't close when you tap on em. those are dead in the bad way. if you have some that are closed when the rest have opened during cooking, leave those in the pot-they might just need a few extra mins. if they're still closed, pry them open and eat them. sometimes they're stubborn or they got frozen-nbd.

Adam Attarian

Solid, classic approach. Definitely add a lot of butter and you're good to go.

Jack

I love to add a bit of cream at the end.

Nancy M.

No chorizo in the house so used about half a pound of bacon instead. Added garlic, shallots and a can of Rotel along with a good slug of white wine. Delicious!

JAM

Added some white beans for some added texture. Delicious.

Joe

This turned out fantastic. Used about a half pound of ground chorizo to two pounds mussels, and it had enough kick on its own that more chili flakes weren’t really necessary (this will depend on your chorizo, so adjust accordingly). Shallots would do nicely here and I’ll likely use them next time in place of garlic. Chopped a fair bit of parsley but was so hungry I forgot to garnish with it—whoops!

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