michelle picker cooks

This recipe, from THE RIVER CAFE COOKBOOK by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers hails from the Puglia region of Italy. Serve it with crusty bread.

Scrub clean 2kg (4½ lbs) of fresh mussels. In a large saucepan heat 60ml (2 fl oz) of olive oil and add the mussels, 150ml (5 fl oz) of white wine and 120ml (4 fl oz) of water. Cook the mussels until they open. Remove the mussels from the saucepan and reduce the liquid by half. Meanwhile, remove half of the mussels from their shells, discarding the shells. In another large saucepan heat a little olive oil and fry 4 cloves of minced garlic until light brown. Add 6 anchovy fillets and mash them into the garlic until they dissolve. Now add the reduced mussel liquid, 3 small dried chillies (crumbled) and 1 can of drained and chopped tinned tomatoes. Cook gently for about 30 minutes until the tomatoes are a medium thick consistency. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and more chilli to taste. Add all the mussels, shelled and not, and ½ a bunch of chopped fresh parsley. To make the bruschetta, simply toast your bread on both sides and rub with a clove of garlic. Serve the mussels in shallow bowls, garnished with fresh parsley and a drizzle of good olive oil.