Mussels Recipe with Blue Cheese
Elegantly rustic Mussels Recipe with Blue Cheese and Bacon. A classic french dish you can make at home!
Mussels are one of Lt. Dan’s favorite things to eat.
He could sit and eat pounds of them at a time, oohing and ahhhing like What About Bob.
There is a little french bistro here in Asheville we like to frequent, called Bouchon. Bouchon feels like a casual eatery in France. The interior is a little too dark, a little too crowded, and a little too warm on a sultry summer evening… Yet that is part of why it’s utterly charming!
Aromas of warm pungent cheese, garlic-wine sauce, and yeasty bread waft through the open windows at both ends of the restaurant, and into the back alley which is also used for seating. They offer several delectable varieties of mussels accompanied by their devilish matchstick frites dipped in aioli.
Choices range from the Parisian-Born Redneck, steamed in PBR beer with Dijon mustard and butter, to the Mediterranean, in a tomato-wine sauce with garlic and saffron.
Bouchon is a true Asheville staple.
I have to admit, before Bouchon I wasn’t crazy about mussels. It was a textural thing. Yet, thanks to this wonderful little restaurant, I am a mussel-convert.
Hooked enough to occasionally make them at home!
This simple Mussels Recipe with Blue Cheese, shallots, and bacon is a nod to one of my favorite Asheville eateries.
It’s so simple to make, you’ll wonder why you never tried making mussels at home before.
Mussels Recipe with Blue Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds fresh mussels
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 cup chopped bacon
- 2/3 cup thinly sliced shallots
- 1/2 cup mild creamy blue cheese
- 3/4 cup white wine
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup baby spinach or arugula, cleaned and de-stemmed
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Rinse and check all the mussels. If they are cracked, throw them out! If they are slightly opened, squeeze them. If they don't close back up within a few seconds, throw them out! One bad mussel can spoil the whole pot.
- Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook the bacon until the fat is rendered and it is slightly browned. Remove the bacon and set aside.
- Add the shallots and saute 1-2 minutes. Then add the mussels and toss together. Add the white wine and lemon juice and toss together.
- When the mussels start to open, add half of blue cheese, melting it into the broth. As soon as all mussels are open, toss in the spinach.
- Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Top with the rest of the blue cheese and the bacon. Serve with crusty bread to sop up the blue cheese broth!
The best part of mussels is the broth and soaking it all up with bread at the end. I bet this one is extra good with the bacon and blue cheese.
Prepared this for our evening meal tonight and it was entirely remarkable. Did the recipe pretty much as written but substituted a tablespoon+ of chipotle oil for the olive oil. And incorporated my own pasta. This is without doubt a keeper formula for a brilliant repast!!
Thanks Sharon!
Fantastic seafood dish. I love fromage bleu.
I love mussels and those sound amazing! I also love Bobby Flay and had a photo opp with him a couple of weeks ago at one of his restaurants in NY. I was thrilled:)
I'm with you I adore Bobby, he's thowdown show is fun, I like mussels, but the recips i have are boring, this looks so tasty…great for the weekend
sweetlife