Grilled mussels, garlic butter & pangrattato

This week’s recipe from Hopgood’s & Co is for Grilled mussels, garlic butter & pangrattato, head chef Aaron Ballantyne says you can make the garlic butter and pangrattato in advance so it’s a very quick, tasty and straightforward dish to serve as a starter at a dinner party or for a fast family dinner. Just use as many mussels as you need.

Pangrattato is basically Italian for breadcrumbs and Aaron says you make the best breadcrumbs using good bread and he recommends sourdough that’s a day or two old.

Grilled mussels, garlic butter & pangrattato

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 32 freshly steamed mussels in the half-shell
• 125g garlic butter, sliced (recipe follows)
• ½ cup garlic pangrattato (recipe follows)
• ½ cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• Lemon wedges to serve
• Sea salt & pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven grill. With a small knife carefully loosen each mussel away from the shell.
2. Once loose place the mussel back into its shell. Lay the mussels out onto an ovenproof tray.
3. Spoon a generous amount of garlic butter into each mussel shell, sprinkle over the garlic pangrattato and season with salt and pepper.
4. Place the mussels under the grill and cook for 4-5 minutes until bubbling, golden and the mussels are warmed through nicely.
5. Transfer the mussels to a platter, sprinkle over the chopped parsley, garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

Garlic Butter

• 125g butter, room temperature
• 25ml extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup flat leaf parsley, very finely chopped
• ½ cup chives, very finely chopped
• 1 small shallot, very finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely crushed
• Small pinch of chilli flakes
• 1 lemon, zest & juice
• Small pinch chilli flakes
• Sea salt and pepper

1. Place the room temperature butter and olive oil into a medium sized bowl.
2. Whisk until smooth and aerated. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside until needed.

Garlic Pangrattato 

• 50g butter
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs, made from stale bread
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Small pinch chilli flakes
• ½ cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 lemon, zest only
• 20g parmesan, finely grated
• Sea salt & pepper

1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a heavy based fry pan. Add the breadcrumbs, garlic and chilli.
2. Gently sauté, stirring often for about 5 minutes until golden and crispy.
3. Drain on absorbent paper to remove excess oil, then transfer to a bowl.
4. Allow to cool, then mix with remaining ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Set aside until needed.