Mussel chowder recipe

Here’s a lovely winter warmer of a soup that manages to be both elegant and affordable at the same time. It’s good enough to serve at a mid-week dinner party as a main course, with a chunky salad and some crusty bread on the side.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled & chopped
• 250g potatoes, peeled & finely diced
• 1 red pepper, de-seeded & finely diced
• 1kg fresh Scottish mussels, cleaned
• 800ml fish stock (made with 500ml water and 300ml milk + stock cube)
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion, potatoes and pepper for 5 minutes.

2. Add the mussels and the fish stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Using a slotted spoon, remove the mussels from the pan and take them out of their shells. Discard all that remain unopened. Keep a few in their shells for a garnish and set aside. Return the shelled mussels to the pan.

4. Mix the cornflour with a little water to form a thin paste, and whisk into the pan, bringing the liquid back to the boil. Stir until the chowder thickens slightly.

5. Serve in warmed bowls with the reserved mussels in their shells, sprinkled with fresh parsley.

Many thanks to Morrisons for kindly allowing me to reproduce their fishmonger’s recipe.

***COMPETITION TIME***

We have a collection of Morrisons seafood recipe cards and a rather handy ‘How to cook fish’ booklet up for grabs. Want to win them? Just leave a comment in the box below saying ‘Fish-tastic!’ and I’ll pick a winner out at random next week. Usual T&Cs apply.