I’m always intrigued as to what draws a person to a recipe. It’s so personal and subjective, yet the food made from the recipe tantalizes taste buds whether you chose the recipe or not. Friday night JT wanted to make mussels, but we were a tad tired of the same old white wine sauce and we had just had a green curry so that was out. He scoured the net and was drawn to a Moroccan style mussel which included chick peas. Now I am trying to cut carbs down considerably (that’s actually JT’s bread he snuck onto my plate for the photo) and when I read the recipe I was immediately drawn to the chick peas…would they be satisfying enough that I wouldn’t need bread? That was the question.
When I first announced that we had planned a trip to Morocco, Greg at Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide kindly emailed me a link to an article that discussed the merits of traditional Moroccan cuisine in comparison to Modern Moroccan cuisine and we were so intrigued that we bought the cookbook. It’s been sitting on my kitchen desk and when I have any moment, I page through the lovely photos. Sadly, the recipes are very complex, often involving mixes of pastes and such that I do not have ready (a traditional Moroccan household would) so I have been unable to find something easy enough to make. Fast forward to Friday night: JT scouring the net for a recipe for mussels. He finds one on Epicurious. We have all the ingredients at home and it sounds like it would be fantastic. The spices were definitely a tip of a hat to Morocco.
Moroccan Style Mussels with Chick Peas
Original recipe is from Epicurious, JT modified his version, of course
Ingredients:
- 1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1/2 cup)
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika (preferably hot)
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch cayenne
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1/2 (15- to 19-oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes
- 1 1/2 lb cultivated mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup low sodium chicken stock
Directions:
- Cook onion, garlic, and spices in oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until onion is softened, about 6 minutes.
- Stir in vinegar and simmer 1 minute.
- Add chickpeas, sugar, tomatoes, raisins and chicken stock and increase heat to moderate and gently simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Add mussels and return to a simmer. Cover tightly with lid and cook until mussels just open wide, 3 to 6 minutes. (Discard any mussels that remain unopened after 6 minutes.)
- Serve Immediately.
The verdict? A M A Z I N G! I not only did not NEED the bread, I did not WANT it. The chick peas were satisfying and filling AND the broth? What can I say, pass that spoon over please. This is going to make repeated appearances in our house, for sure!
I see you follow ‘Rufus’ and also ‘ChgoJohn’ – both of whom I love!! And I also love this recipe!! I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I’m going to pin it right away. PS I’m going to look into modern vs older ways of Moroccan cooking – thanks for the inspiration. One last quick thing – I received a lovely tangine which was made in Tunisia – any ideas of something special for my first ‘tangine meal’?
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This was a very tasty recipe from our cooking class in Merrakesh. https://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/beef-tajine-with-almonds-and-prunes/
The other tasty recipe is a variation of beef Bourgogne which is Moroccan inspired https://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/moroccan-braised-beef-and-spiced-couscous/
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Thank you sooo much!!
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I love Moroccan spices and flavors, they are so rich and interesting.
You know what you talk about with traditional vs modern cooking is something you see in a lot of middle east. My mum makes dishes that require a full day’s work!
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Wow. I am loving this recipe. I am so jealous you’re going to Morocco!
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These mussels look fantastic! I really like the addition of chickpeas!
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Thank you kindly Amber, they were indeed quite tasty.
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Hi Eva, it’s nice to see alternative mussel-serving methods – I think it’s easy to get bored with the traditional sauces, even if they are very good. There’s a famous Belgian chain of restaurants, which they have in France too, called “Léon” – they make there a provençale tomato sauce, and also a madras curry sauce, which I really recommend if you ever have the chance to try it. Chick peas and moroccan flavours sounds like another wonderful idea – thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
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It’s really great that you didn’t have to use bread! Having chickpeas to “mop” up is so healthy too!! Don’t you just love all those “exotic” spices mingling together!!
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This might be one of the greatest things you have posted Eva. My enjoyment of mussels knows no bounds and I don’t care if Liz is a WW….because she is eating these with me. 🙂 of course it’s really not that bad for you anyways.
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That’s true, Jed. I have an old WW cookbook that had a lovely chick pea soup…not sure if it would meet the criteria today, but it sure was yummy. I hope you enjoy the recipe.
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[…] Comments « Moroccan Style Mussels with Chick Peas […]
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To b honest, I’ve never tried mussels before, but that plate there looks good enough to give me a go at trying them… As Liz said, my dad would want bread… he eats it with everything!
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How fantastic and I have all of the ingredients for this too (except for the mussels).
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As much as me and my husband adore mussels, I don’t like raisins and he doesn’t like chickpeas. Mussels are definitely an underrated seafood around these parts. They are very cheap here considering other shellfish can cost $3 each and mussels retail for $3 per kilo. Back in my poorer student days, $3 worth of mussels and a loaf of bread would be a cheap but classy dinner.
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Beautifully done…and most delicious! I love that it’s filling without needing to add bread (hubby would still want bread, too!).
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Sounds like an exotic Mediterranean seafood dish – awesome 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Lemon Polenta Raisin Cookies + Tropical Mini Yoghurt Berry Bundts
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I love both chick pea and mussels…but never thought of combining them in a dish. I love the idea!
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This looks amazing. I’m usually a wine and butter guy with mussels just real simple. But I love them in about everything. I hate when cookbooks disappoint!
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That’s true Greg, and it’s not often that it happens. Hope you try these, they have a bit of a kick, but I’m pretty sure you could handle it.
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While I’ve never cooked mussels before, this sure does look delicious! From the raisins to the paprika and ginger and vinegar, I just love Moroccan-esque spiced dished. Yum!
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Thanks Bill, mussels are certainly one of those elusive ingredients that takes a special event to make you cook them at home. For us, it was about 18 years ago, we went to a friend’s party and they served cold mussels on the half shell with a tasty vinaigrette, when I asked if they made them, they surprised me that they did, so I had to try it myself!
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Isn’t it great when a recipe search turns out so well? This one really sounds like a winner and I can see why JT was drawn to it — and he’s not the only one. Looking at the comments, it seams a few of us are going to be trying it, too. 🙂
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That is so right, John, and I am absolutely touched and flattered that so many of my lovely readers would like to make this one! JT sure has a good eye for a tasty dinner recipe!
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I would imagine that this would be delicious even without the mussels.
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Thanks Sharyn, I’m guessing you’re not a fan of mussels?
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I like mussels — I just never cook them — I eat them in restaurants.
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Oh you know how we feel about mussels and we all love chickpeas! This sounds fantastic! I have no doubt we’d all eat this happily for dinner. This is on my list of things to make! 🙂 Love it!
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Thank you kindly Kristy, it was indeed a very tasty dinner. I do hope you like it too.
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That dish does sound amazingly delicious. and so easy to put together. Love the chick peas and raisins combination.
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Thanks Norma, it was tasty, satisfying and reasonably healthy. It will be made again and again, I’m sure.
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That does look good and I’m sure the chick peas would be fabulous because they would soak up all those flavours – just like bread would do! How wonderful that you were able to find a recipe for mussels that suited your needs. xx
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Hi Charlie, it was very tasty, and the chick peas really added to the meal, making it extremely satisfying. I loved the texture too.
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