Easy Garlicky Mussels or Clams

This is a super easy way to make mussels (or clams) and takes like 20 minutes to make, and seems super fancy when you make it.  I made them this way for like the 100^th time this past weekend. Again, bread is a must.  And after you’re done you will no doubt have about 2 cups of liquid left over, which is awesome heated back up and used as a sauce over pasta the next day.

Ingredients:

Bag of clams or mussels (or combo of both!) – cleaned up nice

5 cloves of garlic chopped small

2 cups dry white wine

1 small can of diced tomatoes

1 cup of chopped parsley

1 lemon (zest and juice)

3 tbs butter (or olive oil I GUESS!)

Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

In a pan big enough for the fish, heat garlic in the butter on medium until soft. Add red pepper flakes. Add the white wine, lemon zest and juice, and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Strain about half the liquid out of the can of tomatoes, and then add the tomatoes and remaining liquid from the can. Throw in the mussels/clams, cover, and simmer for 5+ minutes, checking ever few minutes to see if everyone is opening up.  Once they have, throw some parsley on there and dig in! The past weekend when I made this, Mat and I pretty much ate everything right out of the pan on the table. We are classy.

Like I said, if you have liquid left over, save it! Throw a can of clams in there and use it for linguini and clam sauce! PARM CHEESE ON TOP!

Tip for mussels/clams!  I learned on Barefoot Contessa that if you put your mussels in a big bowl of cold water and add a tbs of flower, and mix it, the mussels will spit out the sand they are holding (so you don’t have crunchy mussels).  I always do this now.  It works really well.  So thanks Ina! LOVE YOU! 

So I forgot to take photo's until AFTER we polished this one off.  So here's photo's of the damage : )