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Moules marinière with parsley and wine broth.

Shellfish

Moules Marinières

From Éditions Larousse

Plump mussels open in a fragrant pot of white wine, butter and softened onion, releasing their own briny juices into the broth. Parsley, thyme and bay give it a fresh herbal flavour. This Larousse marinière leaves the cooking liquid clear and light, with no cream to soften the taste of the shellfish. Serve the mussels piping hot in their shells, with frites for a generous main course.

Prep
30 min
Cook
6 min
Published total
36 min
Serves4
Jump to recipe ↓Éditions Larousse ↗

Ingredients

Mussels and wine broth

Method

  1. Scrape the shells, remove the beards and rinse the mussels thoroughly. Peel and finely chop the onion. Wash, dry, de-stalk and chop the parsley.
  2. Melt butter over moderate heat. Soften onion gently for 5–10 minutes. Add wine, parsley, thyme and bay; bring to a vigorous boil for five minutes.
  3. Add mussels, cover and cook over high heat for 6–8 minutes until open, shaking the pan and stirring once or twice. Warm a serving dish.
  4. Stir and remove from heat. Discard closed shells; transfer to the warm dish. The source lists pepper without an addition step.

Equipment

Large casserole with lid; Small knife; Colander; Wooden spoon; Warm serving dish

Notes

  • Get ready first: scrape the shells, remove the beards and rinse thoroughly. Chop the onion and parsley before starting the cooking.
  • Onion and wine: soften the onion gently for 5–10 minutes. Add wine and herbs and give them five minutes at a vigorous boil before the mussels go in.
  • Opening the mussels: cover and use high heat for 6–8 minutes, shaking the pan often and stirring once or twice.
  • Serve at once: discard any shells that remain closed. Put the opened mussels and their juices into a warmed dish; serve alone as a starter or with frites.
  • Allow for every stage: the six-minute cooking headline leaves out the separate onion and wine stages. The published total is not a consistent account of all the Method timings.
  • Pepper: it appears in the ingredient list, but there is no specified addition step.

Photos

1 photo
Moules à la marinièreServingLarousse’s mussels in their shells

Moules Marinières

Recipe photos

About this dish

The name marinière describes mussels cooked with white wine and herbs in their own liquor. It belongs to the established French repertoire: Escoffier’s Ma cuisine of 1934 includes a version with wine, shallot, mussel juices, butter and parsley. His sauce also used bread to thicken it, showing that the familiar name has covered more than one treatment of the broth.

The recipe here, from Le Larousse de la cuisine facile, keeps that broth unthickened. Onion softens in butter before wine and herbs boil together. Once the mussels are added, the lid holds the steam in the casserole; shaking the pan and stirring help the shells open evenly. The liquid gains its depth from the mussels themselves. A warmed serving dish and immediate service keep the hot broth and shellfish together, ready to serve as a starter or with frites.

Recipe and cooking notes adapted from Éditions Larousse.