Portuguese Mussels

I first had these in a small fish shack on the coast of Maine; they were so good I immediately had to make my version of this spicy dish.
Serves6 to 8
Cooking Methodsauteeing
CostModerate
Total Timeunder 1 hour
One Pot MealYes
OccasionCasual Dinner Party
Recipe Coursemain course
Dietary Considerationegg-free, gluten-free, lactose-free, peanut free, soy free
Mealdinner
Taste and Texturegarlicky, herby, hot & spicy, juicy, salty, savory, umami
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
- 1 pound fresh chorizo sausage
- 6 plum tomatoes, cored and chopped
- 1 pound small new potatoes, cut into quarters
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups dry white wine
- 4 cups chicken or fish broth
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 pound mussels, debearded and scrubbed
- 10 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
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Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the onion, cook and stir about 5 minutes. Add the red pepper and continue to cook, stirring frequently about 5 minutes more.
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Add the sausage, tomatoes and potatoes and cook until the sausage is cook through and the potatoes are slightly crispy. Drain off any fat from the sausage. Add the garlic and cook and stir about 1 minute longer.
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Add the wine, broth, bay leaves, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes; reduce the heat and simmer about 20 minutes.
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Increase the heat to high and add the mussels, basil and parsley and cover. Cook until all the mussels are open, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the mussels do not open in this amount of time, discard them. Serve the mussels hot with the broth and vegetables poured over and around them with pieces of crusty bread for dipping into the broth.
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2016 Sara Foster