Pork Easy Main French

Matt Preston's moules 'boganaire'

Name: Matt Preston's mussels boganaire recipe
Yield: 6
Cuisine: /french
Ingredients: 1 baguette; 250g pork & fennel sausages; 40.00 ml extra virgin olive oil; 1 tsp fennel seeds; 20g butter; 1 large red onion, finely chopped; 1 large fennel, bulb finely chopped, fronds chopped and reserved (see notes); 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, stems thinly sliced, leaves roughly chopped; 6 garlic cloves, crushed; 250ml white wine; 250ml chicken stock; 2kg mussels, rinsed and scrubbed (discard any that don’t close when tapped, or have broken shells, see notes); 200ml tub creme fraiche; 165g packet sweet chilli chips (we used Red Rock Deli)

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by Matt Preston

delicious. senior editor

Jul 18, 2024

"Mussels, pork & fennel snags and potato chips. It’s about time we recognised mussels are an everyday, everyman meal!" - Matt Preston

Recipe note: "You’ll need a large stockpot. If you can’t find fennel or it’s too expensive, just add another 1 tsp fennel seeds. I don’t debeard my mussels as I hate having my beard pulled while I am alive! I’m sure the mussels feel the same. And I can always remove any beards far more easily once they are cooked." - Matt Preston

1 baguette
250g pork & fennel sausages
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
20g butter
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1 large fennel, bulb finely chopped, fronds chopped and reserved (see notes)
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, stems thinly sliced, leaves roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup (250ml) dry white wine
1 cup (250ml) low-salt stock (chicken, vegetable or fish)
2kg mussels, rinsed and scrubbed (discard any that don’t close when tapped, or have broken shells, see notes)
200ml tub creme fraiche
165g packet sweet chilli chips (we used Red Rock Deli)

Method

1.

Preheat oven to 80°C/60°C fan-forced. Wrap baguette in foil. Warm 6 large bowls, a large serving dish and the baguette in the oven.
2.

Meanwhile, squeeze sausage meat from casings and pinch meat into bite-size pieces. Discard casings. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over high heat. Cook fennel seeds, stirring frequently, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add butter and sausage meat and cook, tossing frequently, for 5 minutes or until browned all over. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, fennel bulb, parsley stems and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until fennel has softened. Add wine, scraping base of pan with a spoon, and cook for 5 minutes, or until wine has reduced by three-quarters. Add stock, stir to combine, increase heat to high and bring to the boil.
3.

Add the mussels and cook, covered, for 5 to 7 minutes, shaking pan occasionally, until mussels open. Using a slotted spoon, transfer mussels to the warm serving dish, reserving the pot with the cooking liquid. Stir the creme fraiche into the cooking liquid and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes to reduce the sauce. Add parsley leaves and stir until wilted. Pour sauce over the mussels.
4.

Divide mussels and sauce between warmed bowls. Garnish with chopped fennel fronds and a handful of crushed potato chips. Serve the remaining chips and the warm baguette on the side.