Prep time: 15 mins /Cook time: 15 mins /Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 3 kilograms of fresh white mussels, cleaned
• 2-3 large leeks, washed and thinly sliced 
• 6 rashers of streaky bacon, roughly chopped
• A handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 30ml butter, for frying
• 20ml wholegrain mustard
• 20ml Dijon mustard
• 150ml dry white wine
• 250ml fresh cream
• Salt and pepper

Method:

Submerge the mussels in cold salted water for a few hours before cooking to ensure that they are free of sand. Alternatively, use black mussels if white mussels can’t be sourced. Discard any mussels that don’t close when tapped sharply on the shell, as they are no longer alive. Store the cleaned mussels in a large bowl in the refrigerator until ready to cook.

Use a large stove-proof casserole with a lid for this recipe, as it makes steaming the mussels in the sauce an easier task.

Place the casserole dish over medium heat and sauté the leeks and bacon in the butter until soft. Add in the garlic, half the parsley and mustards and deglaze with the wine. Pour in the cream and simmer the sauce for 5 minutes before seasoning to taste. Add the white mussels and close the lid, steaming them for 5 to 8 minutes or until open – discarding any that haven’t opened.

Stir the mussels through the sauce and scatter over the remaining fresh parsley. Serve the mussels immediately with lemon wedges, fresh crusty bread to mop up the sauce and glasses of chilled Leopard’s Leap Culinaria Collection Chenin Blanc.