Historically I haven’t been the biggest fan of anything from the sea but we’re growing, y’all! Because my daughter is just as picky as I was I am leading by example and forcing myself to try new things. My fiancé LOVES mussels in a spicy red sauce and since we haven’t been able to visit his favourite local spots anymore, he encouraged me to give making them at home a try. At first, I was very nervous, are they really alive? Will I poison someone? How do I know if they’re cooked, but trust me when I say: If I can do it, you certainly can do it!
I made my sauce completely from scratch, but to save time, you can totally use a store-bought tomato sauce as a base to build your spicy red sauce from. Both are delicious and I don’t judge. Keep an eye out for my homemade version soon, another fan favourite around here. Read on for the ingredients you’ll need and the process to make my mussels in spicy red sauce at home.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 6 cloves of garlic (crushed)
- 2 tsp of red pepper flakes
- 1 cup of dry white wine
- 1 small bottle of clam juice
- 3 cups of prepared tomato sauce (you can buy this, I love Rao’s or Pusateri’s Semplice, I will share my homemade version soon!)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 pounds of mussels (de-bearded and cleaned)
- parsley
- fresh crusty bread
How To:
- warm olive oil and butter over medium heat and add garlic and red pepper flakes until nice and fragrant, making sure to stir so it doesn’t burn
- add the white wine and clam juice and cook off the alcohol (a few mins)
- add in prepared tomato sauce, cover and bring to a boil, adjusting seasoning, add some salt and pepper here
- once the sauce tastes yum, add in the mussels and cover the pot, let cook for around 3 mins
- after 3 mins remove the lid and stir once fully, let cook for another 3-4 mins until the mussels are open and firm inside
- take the pot of mussels off of the heat and transfer them to a large wide bowl with a strainer ladle
- once the mussels are in the bowl top with the remaining sauce from the pot
- top with some parsley and serve with some fresh crusty bread
Tag me here if you try this one at home! I promise you’ll win any seafood lover over with this recipe.
xx
Coco