Mussels And Mashed Potatoes
When you cook mussels, a luscious sauce is formed in the pot which is a perfect dressing for creamy mashed potatoes. I really amped up the flavors in the sauce for this one, adding lots of sausage, shallots, mushrooms, and of course- garlic! It all blended in with some white wine and was a fantastic topper for mashed potatoes.
The inspiration for this recipe
Sitting down to a huge bowl of mussels is easily one of my favorite dining experiences. I love to order mussels at restaurants, and I often make them at home as well. The one problem that often happens with mussels however, is that you end up with so much liquid at the end of the bowl. That sweet sweet mussel juice. Yea, you can sop it up with some bread, but it’s never enough bread! I thought it would be a great idea to pour some mussels on top of mashed potatoes so you could use the liquid as a gravy for the mash.
Making the cooking liquid for the mussels
Shallot, fennel, and sausage cooking in a pan. I don’t use fennel enough, it’s so good! Fennel is especially nice with both mussels and mashed potatoes so i really makes sense here!
Mushroom and garlic go in next. Mushroom is kind of a random addition to this, but I was in the mood for them.
Cook the mussels with the sausage
Finally add the mussels! Mussels are one of the most photogenic foods in my opinion. These only need a few minutes, and you know they are cooked when they open up. If any of the mussels do not open, you should throw them away.
Fennel fronds and parsley go in at the end of cooking. They add a great freshness to the mussels.
The mashed potatoes
I like to cook potatoes in the oven for mashed potatoes because it helps concentrate the flavors. When you boil them, the flavor is diluted in the water. I also kept the skin on the potatoes for this one, and added a lot of parsley. Form the mashed potatoes into a bowl shape so they are ready for all that mussel juice. It’s kinda like when you are a kid and you make a little crater in your mashed potatoes for the gravy to go in. But this is a big crater for adult gravy.
Serving the mussels and mashed potatoes
Finally, spoon in the mussels and broth and all that goodness from the pan over the mashed potato bowl.
YES! People love to have mussels and french fries but frankly the fries aren’t good at sopping up all the liquid. Mashed potatoes are a champ at this. Am I saying that this is better than moules frites? MAYBE!
The flavors in this mussels and mashed potatoes are super earthy and comforting. It’s really rich from the sausage, potatoes, and butter, but not so much that you feel gross after you eat it. I honestly could use sweet sweet mussel juice for my mashed potato gravy any day!
Twists on Mussels and Mashed Potatoes
If you want to leave the mushrooms out of this mussels and mashed potatoes, go ahead. I liked them in here, but it was more about what I was craving that day.
If you want to make good old moules frites, you can’t beat this food and wine recipe.
Mussels And Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
Mussels
- 1 shallot diced
- 1 small fennel bulb bulb diced, fronds chopped
- 1/2 pound Italian sausage removed from casing
- 4 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pounds mussels cleaned
- 1/2 cup white wine
Potatoes
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 4 yukon gold potatoes skin on
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1/4 cup parsley
- splash milk
Instructions
- Bake the potatoes at 350 until tender, about an hour and a half. Cut the potatoes before mashing so that you break up the skin. Mash with the butter, parsley, and as much milk needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Cook the sausage, shallot, and fennel (the bulb part only) until the sausage is cooked and the veggies are starting to brown, about 7 minutes.
- Add the garlic, chile flake, and mushroom and cook 3 minutes.
- Add the mussels and wine. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the mussels are all opened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the fennel fronds.
- Put the potatoes into a shallow bowl and press them against the sides of the bowl to basically form a potato bowl. Scoop a bunch of mussels and sauce into the potatoes and serve.
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