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Catalan Mussels With Walnut Picada

Picada is a dense, pounded paste of fried bread, nuts, garlic, olive oil, and other aromatics. It originated in the Catalonia region of Spain, most likely in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, as a way to thicken and flavor stews and braises.
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Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

Mussels

  • 1 kg mussels cleaned and beards removed 

Sauce

  • 40 ml Light Olive Oil
  • 1 Banana Shallot finely diced
  • 2 Cloves Garlic thinly sliced
  • 1 Fresh Red Chilli sliced
  • 1/4 tbsp Paprika
  • 150 ml Dry White Wine
  • 2 Tinned Chopped Tomatoes (2 x 400g tins)
  • 2 tbsp Sherry Vinegar
  • Sea Salt
  • 1 Pinch of Saffron

Picada

  • 50 g Walnuts toasted
  • 1 Glove Garlic chopped
  • 1 Slice Sourdough toasted and torn into pieces
  • 1 bunch Flat-Leaf Parsley washed and chopped
  • Sea Salt
  • 50 ml Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Instructions
 

Mussels

  • Clean the mussels by discarding any with broken shells, remove the beards and using the back of a knife; scrape off any barnacles.
  • Rinse the mussels in cold water to drain out any grit or bits of broken shell.
  • Drain and keep the cleaned mussels refrigerated until use.

Sauce

  • Heat light olive oil in a heavy bottomed, large saucepan.(avoid using non-stick pans as the mussels will scratch the cooking surface)
  • Add the shallots, garlic, chillies, paprika and sauté over low heat until the shallots have softened.
  • Turn up the heat, add white wine and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Add tomatoes and sherry vinegar, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Picada

  • While the sauce is cooking, place walnuts, garlic, bread, parsley and salt in a food processor and pulse until well combined.
  • Slowly add the oil while pulsing to get a pesto-like sauce.

Finish

  • Taste and season the sauce and add the mussels.
  • Increase the heat, stir once then cover with a lid.
  • Simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the mussels have opened.
  •  Discard any mussels that have not opened.
  • To serve, portion some mussels and sauce and top each portion with a few tea spoons of picada.
  • It’s best eaten on its own or with bread (for a more substantial meal, add some orzo or rice when cooking the sauce)