Recipe: Mussels with Ginger & Roasted Garlic

Written by on in Seafood

This particular dish was inspired by Chef Ben at our Tower Market location. He saw mussels in our cart, and suggested cooking them with ginger, garlic and white wine. Best. Advice. EVER.

There are a few things we love about this recipe:

  • It’s great for entertaining. If you roast the garlic and prep the rest of the ingredients before your guests arrive, you’ll only be in the kitchen 20 minutes to finish it up.
  • It’s an excuse to roast garlic. Your house will smell delicious. While you have the oven on and the olive oil out, throw in an extra head or two of garlic to roast and put in the fridge (by thompson at dhead). Odds are you’ll find a good use for it later in the week.
  • It’s versatile. We served it with pasta for a full meal, but you could also serve the mussels on their own and use crusty French bread to soak up the sauce.
  • It’s delicious. Our dinner guests went back for second and third helpings – no further explanation needed.

Hungry yet? Keep reading for the recipe.

MUSSELS WITH GINGER & ROASTED GARLIC
Mollie Stone’s Markets Original Recipe
Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 heads garlic
  • Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into 4-6 pieces
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • 1 bunch fresh parsley, rinsed and chopped
  • 3 cups white wine
  • 4 lb fresh mussels, beards removed and scrubbed thoroughly
  • 1 lb angel hair pasta, cooked al dente
  • Lemon wedges, for garnish
  • Crusty bread, optional

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 375F. On parchment paper lined foil, drizzle the heads of garlic with olive oil. Wrap tightly and roast 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, remove papery skin from the roasted garlic cloves and set aside.

In a large pot, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add the ginger and garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes, then add wine and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and add the mussels. Reduce heat, cover pot and cook undisturbed until the shells have opened (about 8 minutes). Stir mussels and remove with a slotted spoon to a warm bowl. Discard any unopened shells.

Reduce broth by half and whisk the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter into the broth.

Place the cooked angel hair pasta on a large platter. Surround with the mussels, place lemon wedge garnish and pour sauce over mussels and pasta. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with a green salad.