Life All Travel Destinations Entertaining Food All Chefs Recipes Restaurants Wine Matching Wine All Wine 101 Wine News Wine Regions Wine Varietals Home > Selector Magazine > Food > Mussels in saffron pastis broth Food Mussels in saffron pastis broth Preparation time 10 minutes + mussel cleaning time (see notes) Cooking time 12 minutes Serves 4 as a starter Ingredients 1 kilo mussels 1 tbsp olive oil 1 small (200g) bulb fennel, trimmed, cored, sliced finely 2 eschallots, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 150ml dry white wine 50ml pastis (or Pernod) 3 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped ½ tsp sugar Pinch saffron threads ½ tbsp coriander seeds, crushed 1 tsp flaked sea salt or to taste Method Clean and de-beard the mussels or use ready prepared ones. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan and gently sauté fennel, eschallots and garlic without colouring until soft. Add white wine, pastis, tomatoes, sugar and saffron and bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered, until reduced by half. Add the mussels and coriander seeds, cover the pan and cook over medium high heat until all the mussels are open, 4–5 minutes. Add sea salt to taste. Serve the mussels with the broth and some crusty bread. Lyndey’s Note: Mussels are available cleaned in cryovac packs from supermarkets and fishmongers. Their quality and freshness are excellent and they save on time with cleaning! Food Preparation time 10 minutes + mussel cleaning time (see notes) Cooking time 12 minutes Serves 4 as a starter SHARE