Want a reminder the of ultimate holiday food, without the expense of the euro? Then make this classic dish... it's top French Fast Food!


1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
knob of butter
1 lemon
glass of white wine
fresh mussels in shells (500g)
fistful of fresh parsley, chopped
splash of cream
black pepper


clean the mussels by removing any excessive ‘beard’ and leave them to soak in water for 10 mins.
discard any that are open and don’t close when tapped (they are already dead!)
dice the onion as finely as possible and sweat off with the butter in a deep sided pan with lid.
crush the garlic and add this to the half-cooked onions.
pour in the white wine, squueze in the lemon juice and dump in the drained and cleaned mussels.
cover with a lid and leave to steam for 2-3 minutes until the mussels have all opened.
lift out the cooked mussels into a deep serving bowl, then add parsley, black pepper and cream to the cooking juices in the pan.
stir, reduce a little if needed and pour over the mussels.
serve with chunks of crusty French bread to mop up all the juices.

serves 2