Portuguese-style mussels with chorizo tomato sauce
40 black mussels
125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil
1/2 brown onion, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
4 fresh bay leaves
200 g (7 oz) chorizo sausage, cut into 2 mm (1/16 inch) slices
250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) white wine
250 g (9 oz/1 cup) tomato sauce (see recipe below)
steamed jasmine rice, to serve
tomato sauce
60 ml (2 fl oz/1/4 cup) olive oil
1 brown onion, finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
300 g (101/2 oz/11/4 cups) tinned chopped tomatoes
1 red capsicum (pepper), seeded, membrane removed and roughly chopped
1 fresh bay leaf
125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) dry white wine
6 drops Tabasco sauce
Makes 2 1/2 cups
To make the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the tomato and capsicum and cook for 5 minutes, or until the capsicum has softened slightly. Add the bay leaf and wine, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until slightly pulpy. Add the Tabasco sauce. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the bay leaf and blend in a food processor until smooth. Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste. Return to a clean saucepan and keep warm until needed.
If you are not using the sauce immediately, store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Serves 4
Scrub the mussels with a stiff brush and pull out the hairy beards. Discard any broken mussels, or open ones that don’t close when tapped on the work surface. Rinse well and drain.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves and chorizo and cook, stirring regularly, for 4 minutes, or until the onion is lightly golden. Add the mussels and cook for a further 2 minutes, then add the wine. Bring to a boil, then add the tomato sauce.
Cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and steam, shaking the pan occasionally, for a further 5 minutes, or until the mussels open. Discard any mussels that do not open.
Serve the mussels and sauce in large bowls with steamed jasmine rice on the side.