Spicy Spanish Mussels Recipes

MUSSELS IN SPICY RED SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper, and saute until fragrant, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add the white wine and tomato sauce, increase the heat to high, cover and bring to a boil.
• Add the mussels and replace the lid. Cook over high heat 3 minutes. Remove the lid and stir once gently. Continue to cook until the mussels are completely open and firmly cooked, about 4 minutes more.
• Remove the pot from the heat and transfer the mussels gently from the pot to a large bowl with a Chinese wire mesh skimmer. Return the pot to the heat and increase the heat to high. Boil for a minute or 2, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Pour the sauce over the mussels and serve immediately.
• Place the canned tomatoes in a large bowl and place your (clean) hands in the bowl and crush the tomatoes so they breakup into a range of small pieces.
• In a 5-quart Dutch oven heat the olive oil over medium heat until it is fragrant, but before it smokes, about 40 seconds. Add the bay leaves and stir them in the oil until they begin to brown, about 10 seconds. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until it starts to turn golden brown, then add the onions, carrots, and oregano. Cook the vegetables until they are very brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally, just enough to prevent them from scorching.
• Add the crushed tomatoes with their juice, the tomato paste, salt and pepper, and 1 1/2 cups of water, (white wine or clam juice can be added depending on the intended use) and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer, partially covered until the sauce level has reduced by 2 or 3 inches and the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Cook the sauce for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick.
• Remove from heat, cool down in the pot, then when at room temperature, transfer to a sealed plastic container and refrigerate until ready to use.
• This sauce will keep 10 days in a well-sealed container in the refrigerator.
• Using my recipe for basic Red Sauce, you can make a quick and spicy "fra diavolo" sauce that is delicious drizzled over grilled squid and other seafood. For equipment you will need a 3-quart saucepan and a wooden spoon.
• Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart saucepan slightly over medium heat and saute the garlic and crushed red pepper until the garlic is fragrant and beginning to brown, about 40 seconds.
• Add the Red Sauce, clam juice, and salt, to taste, and simmer, stirring occasionally over medium-low heat, until the sauce returns to the thickness and quantity of the Red Sauce, about 15 minutes.

SPICY MUSSELS WITH CHORIZO AND WINE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook the onions in the butter over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chorizo to the onions and cook until the sausage loses its raw color, about 5 minutes. Add the harissa and red pepper flakes, and then turn up the heat to high.
• Once fragrant, deglaze the pan with the wine, allowing to bubble for a minute. Lower the heat to medium, add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the prepped mussels and cover to steam until the mussels open, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cream and stir. Serve immediately with plenty of sliced French bread for dipping.

SPICY MUSSELS AND CHORIZO

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large, heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add shallot; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and red-pepper flakes; cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add wine; bring to a boil. Add tomatoes and chorizo. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add mussels. Cover, and continue to cook, shaking pot occasionally, until mussels open, about 10 minutes (discard any unopened ones). Add parsley; toss. Serve immediately.

SPICY SPANISH MUSSELS

Steps:

• Clean the mussels. Inspect each one carefully and discard any that have opened (if some are partly open, tap them with your finger and if they close back up they are O.K.) or have cracked shells. Place in a large bowl, fill the bowl with cold water and rinse several times, swishing the mussels around in the water, pouring out the water and refilling. Clean the shells, if necessary, with a brush or the end of one of the mussels, and pull out the beards - the hairy attachments emerging from the shells. Do not do this until just before cooking, or the mussels will die and spoil.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven, soup pot or lidded frying pan and add the hazelnuts and almonds. Cook, stirring, until the nuts are golden brown and smell toasty, and add half the garlic. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, taking care not to let it color and burn, about 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from the heat and transfer to a mortar and pestle or a mini food processor. Allow to cool, then mash or pulse until the mixture is just short of pasty; the nuts should retain some finely chopped texture. Work in 1 tablespoon of the parsley and set aside.
• Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until it is tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt, the remaining garlic and the chili and cook, stirring, for another minute, until the garlic is translucent. Add the tomatoes, a pinch of sugar and salt and pepper to taste, and turn the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture has cooked down and is very fragrant.
• Add the white wine and saffron and bring to a boil. Add the mussels, cover and steam 4 to 5 minutes, until they open. Stir the mussels halfway through to make sure they are evenly exposed to the heat. As they open, remove to a bowl with tongs. Discard any that have not opened. Keep warm.
• Stir the nut and garlic mixture and the remaining parsley into the tomato sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning. Distribute the mussels among 4 wide soup bowls and spoon the sauce over. Serve with bread for sopping up the sauce.
• To skin hazelnuts, toast in a 300-degree oven for 20 minutes, until they begin to smell toasty. Remove from the heat and wrap in a clean dish towel. Rub the nuts in the towel and the skins will slip off. Turn the oven up to 350 degrees and roast for another 5 to 10 minutes, until light brown and toasty.

SPICY GARLICKY MUSSELS

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, celery, vermouth, lemon juices, lemon slices, hot sauce, thyme, paprika, cayenne, and black pepper. Simmer until flavors combine, about 20 minutes.
• Stir mussels into the pot. Simmer, covered, until mussels have opened, about 2 minutes.

15-MINUTE SPICY MUSSEL SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. peel and chop the onion and add it. Chop the parsley and set it aside. Mince the garlic cloves. Add garlic to onions along with red pepper flakes. Stir. Let cook for 30 seconds. Add the wine. Stir.
• Open the cans of crushed and diced tomatoes and add them to the pot along with the chicken broth, salt and half of the chopped parsley. Stir, cover and increase heat to high. Cook until it reaches a boil. Reduce to a heavy simmer.
• While the soup heats up, remove the beards from the mussels (just pull off the thread that runs along them, if that thread is there) and gently scrape off any barnacles. Put them in a colander and rinse with cold water. If any mussels are open, tap them. If they close they're fine. If they stay open, discard.
• Once the soup is simmering, add the mussels. Cook until all mussels have opened. If most have opened, discard any that have stayed closed.
• Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with remaining parsley.

MUSSELS IN A SPICY TOMATO SAUCE - MUSSELS MARINARA RECIPE

Steps:

• To make the spicy tomato sauce finely mince 2 cloves of garlic, finely mince 1 small dried cayenne pepper and finely dice 1/2 of an onion, then heat a frying pan with a medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin Spanish olive oil, once the oil get´s hot add the minced garlic and minced cayenne pepper, mix with the oil and immediately add the diced onions, cook for about 3 minutes, then add 1 1/2 cups of tomato puree, season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, a pinch of white sugar and 1 bay leaf, mix everything together, after about 5 minutes add a 1/4 cup of white wine, mix it all together and lower the fire to a LOW heat
• Grab about 1 pound of fresh mussels, clean them thoroughly, start by taking out the beard and then rinsing them in fresh cold water and scrubing them well until completely cleaned
• Turn the heat on the tomato sauce back to a MEDIUM heat and add the mussels to the pan, cover with a lid and cook for about 5 minutes
• Remove the lid and transfer everything to a plate (discard any mussels that did not open), garnish the dish with fresh parsley
• Enjoy!