Pic of Mussels with fennel

Mussels with fennel

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Meat mains

Mussels with fennel

Main Serves 6 35 min
It's very easy to cook mussels at home – and they're cheap, plentiful, sustainable and good for you. Serve this with crusty bread to soak up the sweet, faintly aniseed sauce, and perhaps a green salad on the side.

Ingredients

  • 1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, finely diced
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 200ml dry white wine
  • 50ml water
  • 2kg mussels, cleaned
  • 2 handfuls fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
  • fennel leaves, finely chopped, if available
  • 3 tbsp créme fraîche
  • 2 tbsp Pernod or Ricard (optional)

Method

Prep time: 5 min
Cooking time: 30 min

  • Step 1

    Sauté the fennel in the butter until starting to soften. Place onion, fennel, garlic, wine and water into a large pan (with a lid). Bring up to the boil, turn down and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

  • Step 2

    Raise the heat again to boil and add mussels, put lid on pan and shake over the heat for a few minutes until all mussels have opened. Discard any unopened ones. Remove mussels and place in serving dish.

  • Step 3

    Boil down remaining liquid fast for three minutes. Add créme fraiche and liqueur if using, stir through chopped parsley and fennel leaves, and pour over mussels.