Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains
Mejillones a la marinera (Spanish mussels in white wine and pimentón sauce)
A big pot of mussels steamed open, then bathed in a warm, smoky sauce of slowly cooked onion, garlic, white wine, tomato and pimentón, thickened with a spoon of flour and their own briny liquor. Put it in the middle of the table with plenty of bread.
- Time
- 45 min (20 prep + 25 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 322 kcal
- Protein
- 29 g
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 lb in the shell mussels, scrubbed and debearded; throw away any that are broken or stay open when tapped
- 1 bay leaf
- about 3/4 cup water, the strained liquor the mussels release, topped up with water if short
- 4 tsp olive oil, extra virgin
- 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 heaped tbsp all-purpose flour
- generous 3/4 cup white wine, dry
- scant 1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp paprika, sweet smoked pimentón de la Vera
- 1 pinch salt, only if needed; the liquor is salty
Steps
- Put the mussels and bay leaf in a very large pot over high heat, cover and steam for 3–4 minutes, shaking twice, until they open. Lift them out and throw away any that stay shut. Strain the liquor left in the pot through a fine sieve and top up with water to 200 ml. If you like, remove the empty half of each shell.
- Warm the oil in a wide casserole over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, then the onion, cover and cook gently for 12 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and just turning gold.
- Stir in the parsley and flour and cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes. Add the strained liquor, tomatoes and pimentón and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring, until it thickens like a light gravy. Taste for salt.
- Return the mussels to the pot, turn them through the sauce for 2 minutes until hot, and serve straight away with bread for the sauce.
Good to know
Can I use frozen mussels?
Yes, buy cooked frozen mussels in the half shell, about 1 kg. Make the sauce with 200 ml of fish stock in place of the liquor, then heat them through in it for 3–4 minutes.
Per
- Calories
- 110
- Protein
- (40%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (33%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (28%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 193 mg
About 65% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1288 kcal goes into the pot and 1310 g of ingredients comes out as about 1170 g of food: 110 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.