Spanish Style Mussels

These Spanish-style mussels are another great way to use remaining Christmas ham, great for feeding friends or family. This one pot dish is easy and delicious to make, featuring the flavours of smokey paprika and ham. 

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as an entree

Ingredients

·      3 teaspoons olive oil

·      1 onion, chopped finely 

·      1 celery stalk, finely chopped

·      1 small carrot, small diced

·      1 red capsicum, chopped finely, removing seeds and vein. 

·      2-3 garlic cloves finely chopped

·      1 teaspoon of smokey paprika 

·      ½ teaspoon of fresh or dried chilli

·      Large pinch salt 

·      Large pinch pepper

·      ½ cup small diced ham, 

·      5 juicy tomatoes, diced roughly

·      Approx. 2 cups organic tomato purée 

·      2 whole bay leaves

·      1 kg of mussels well cleaned 

For garnish

·      ¼ cup of roughly chopped parsley 

·      Zest of ½ a lemon

Method

Once the pan is heated with oil, add vegetables (except tomatoes), garlic and spices. Start stirring until it changes colour, and ensure it doesn't stick. 

Add ham, tomatoes, purée and bay leaves, and cook on a gentle heat until the ingredients soften and break down to resemble a sauce. 

Once the sauce is boiling add mussels and cover the pan with a lid, cooking gently. Taking a couple of minutes, the mussels will begin to open when ready. Remove the lid and scatter chopped parsley over along with the zest of half a lemon.

Serve

Serve the mussels along with zucchini noodles (recipe on pg. 91 of Love Making in the Kitchen). Another alternative is freshly baked bread (on pg. 85), and a big green salad to complete the meal!