Mediterranean Mussel And Chickpea Soup With Fennel And Lemon Recipes

CREAMY MUSSEL STEW WITH PEAS, FENNEL AND LEMON

Steps:

• Chop and reserve 1/4 cup fennel fronds. Peel and discard the outer layers from the bulb, then finely chop the bulb and coarsely chop the stems.
• Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped fennel bulb, leek and garlic cloves. Cook until the fennel and leek are golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the pepper flakes and cook 30 seconds. Stir in the fennel stems, wine and Pernod. Cook, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, 2 minutes.
• Add the mussels to the pot. Cover tightly and cook until most of the mussels have opened, 5 to 7 minutes (discard any remaining closed mussels). Transfer to a large bowl and cover loosely with foil.
• Heat the broiler. Strain the liquid in the pot through a fine sieve into a small saucepan, pressing down on the solids with a spoon. Add the stock and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the peas and cook until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in the crème fraîche, lemon zest, salt and chopped fennel fronds. Cover to keep warm.
• Drizzle the bread with oil and place it under the broiler until just golden, about 1 minute. Place a slice of bread into each of two bowls. Mound the mussels on top of the bread, then ladle the broth over everything.

MEDITERRANEAN MUSSEL AND CHICKPEA SOUP

Steps:

• 1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat; add the garlic and chili flakes. Before the garlic colors, add the mussels and white wine. Increase the heat to high, cover, and let the mussels steam for 3 to 4 minutes, or until they just open. 2. Discard any mussels that don't open and transfer the others to a baking dish with any cooking liquid that is in the pan. Set in the refrigerator until cool enough to handle. Once cool, remove the mussels from the shells, discard the shells. 3. In a medium-size saucepan, combine the mussels, cooking liquid, chickpeas and sliced fennel and heat through. The fennel should retain a bit of a bite. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately.

LEMON-FENNEL MUSSELS

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot with a lid over medium heat. When hot, add shallots; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in fennel and 1 teaspoon salt. Season generously with pepper. Saute fennel until it begins to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Raise heat, and add lemon juice and wine. Bring to a boil, and cook until liquid is reduced by a quarter, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in mussels, and cover. Cook mussels until they just open, stirring halfway through to move the ones at the bottom to the top, 4 to 6 minutes. Discard any mussels that haven't opened after 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper. If serving immediately, stir in parsley; if serving at room temperature, let cool slightly before adding parsley.

MUSSEL SOUP IN THE MEDITERRANEAN STYLE

Steps:

• Rinse mussels under running water, discarding any that are open. Place in a soup kettle with white wine. Bring to a fast boil over medium-high heat and steam until mussels open. Remove from heat and discard any mussels that refuse to open. Remove mussels from broth, being careful not to pick up sandy sediment. Strain the broth carefully, through a colander lined with cheesecloth, into a measuring cup. Add water to make 4 cups liquid.
• Rinse out soup kettle. Clean and slice the leek thinly and saute it in 2 tablespoons of oil over gentle heat until leek has softened.
• If using salted anchovy, split it in half and rinse under running water to rid it of salt. Pull away the bones. Pat anchovy dry. Mash two garlic cloves and mince with anchovy and half the parsley. Add to leek and saute until garlic starts to turn golden.
• Roughly chop tomatoes. Add to soup kettle with mussel broth and either saffron threads or hot pepper. Let simmer, partly covered, 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper to taste.
• While liquid is simmering, remove the empty half shell from each mussel, leaving only the shell half that has the mussel in it. Discard empty shells.
• Add mussels in shells to the simmering broth, and let warm to serving temperature. While broth is warming, toast the bread slices on both sides. When bread is toasted, cut remaining clove of garlic and rub over bread. Drizzle a little of the remaining olive oil over each slice. Place a bread slice in bottom of each soup bowl.
• When ready to serve, place a ladleful of mussels in each bowl on top of the sliced bread. Pour broth over, discarding hot pepper if used, sprinkle with minced parsley and serve immediately.

MEDITERRANEAN MUSSEL AND CHICKPEA SOUP WITH FENNEL AND LEMON

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the garlic and chile flakes. Before the garlic colors, add the mussels and white wine. Increase the heat to high, cover, and let the mussels steam for 3 to 4 minutes, or until they just open.
• Discard any mussels that don't open and transfer the others to a baking dish with any cooking liquid that is in the pan. Set in the refrigerator until cool enough to handle. Once cool, remove the mussels from the shells, and discard the shells. (Note: You can keep the mussels in the fridge until ready to serve the soup, then proceed from this point.)
• In a medium-size saucepan, combine the mussels, cooking liquid, chickpeas, and sliced fennel and heat through. The fennel should retain a bit of a bite. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKPEA, TOMATO AND PASTA SOUP

Steps:

• Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add onion and saute 3 minutes until tender.
• Add water and next 6 ingredients.
• Bring mixture to boil.
• Cover and reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes.
• Add pasta and cook 9 minutes until pasta is tender.
• I have often used small alphabet pasta that I've had in the cupboard.