If you are thinking of spending Christmas in Italy or if you are planning a trip in the New Year and want to prepare by trying some of the local cuisine, you need look no further. Today, we're discussing a Ligurian recipe, Mussel Soup. This light but highly flavourful dish is tasty and satisfying. As the name suggests, it is from Liguria but similar dishes can be found along the entire coast of the peninsula. It is typically served as a first course and is the perfect thing for Christmas Eve dinner in the Italian tradition. Typically, Christmas Eve dinner in Italy is traditionally a light meal with no meat. The dinner precedes the Midnight Mass and is then often followed by hot chocolate with cookies or a slice of panettone once everyone has returned home from church and needs to warm back up once more. Try out the recipe yourself for now and then sample such delicious local specialities in Italy once you've found a holiday villa rental in Liguria.
Ingredients
Serves 4
1kg of mussels
1 clove of garlic
1 sprig of parsley
Around 250ml of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Around 250ml of dry white wine
Bread, roasted
Method
1. Thoroughly clean and wash the mussels, open them in a pot over high heat, in very little water. Now, drain them and be sure to keep the liquid that they have produced to one side for later on.
2. Chop a clove of garlic and a clump of parsley and sauté them in oil, then add the tomato paste as well as the dry white wine.
3. Cook for 10 minutes. Then, add the mussels and 2-3 ladlefuls of their warm cooking liquid. Now leave alone for around five minutes to allow the flavour to develop further.
4. Lay a slice of toasted bread in the individual soup dishes and pour the mussels and the stock on top.
Now you've had a little taste of Italy at Christmas, add a holiday to your letter to Santa and maybe you'll get the gift of a perfect Italian getaway...
Serves 4
1kg of mussels
1 clove of garlic
1 sprig of parsley
Around 250ml of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Around 250ml of dry white wine
Bread, roasted
Method
1. Thoroughly clean and wash the mussels, open them in a pot over high heat, in very little water. Now, drain them and be sure to keep the liquid that they have produced to one side for later on.
2. Chop a clove of garlic and a clump of parsley and sauté them in oil, then add the tomato paste as well as the dry white wine.
3. Cook for 10 minutes. Then, add the mussels and 2-3 ladlefuls of their warm cooking liquid. Now leave alone for around five minutes to allow the flavour to develop further.
4. Lay a slice of toasted bread in the individual soup dishes and pour the mussels and the stock on top.
Now you've had a little taste of Italy at Christmas, add a holiday to your letter to Santa and maybe you'll get the gift of a perfect Italian getaway...
