Baked Stuffed Mussels

I have only made this recipe once before and that had to be over 20 years ago. We never have leftover mussels in this house but for some reason I found myself freezing a pound the last time. That was OK, mussels freeze well.

I put this dish on the menu 5x and just never got around to it. Probably because when The Nudge asked me, as he does everyday, what's for dinner I told him baked mussels and he just did not sound enthusiastic about it.
Finally I did not care how he felt.
Guess what? He said (and I quote) "Never a better mussel have I had".
I knew he would love them but I agree, these were really good. Even better than I imagined them to be.

These were not a weeknight quickly but for today I had the time to make the different steps that all added up to the final preparation. Let me break it down for you..........

I pulled all the mussels from their shells, keeping the decent shells. I ended up with 24.
Make a stuffing of fresh bread crumbs, garlic, lemon zest, grated cheese, olive oil and a pinch of Italian Seasonings.
Chop the mussels and add them to the stuffing, moistening with the olive oil.
Spoon a teaspoon into each mussel half and place them on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with more olive oil and cover with foil, leaving one corner turned up.
Place the mussel pan in the oven and pour a little over a half cup of white wine into the opened corner, tap in place and bake for 40 minutes. Carefully take the foil off the pan and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Cook a handful of angel hair pasta which you have broken into thirds.
Place a mound of pasta into the middle of a pasta bowl, place the mussels around the edge and spoon some of the pan sauce over the mussels and pasta. Garnish with parsley and additional grated cheese (optional).

Enjoy! These were so good I might even buy extra mussels next time just to make these again. Would make a great appetizer for your next party without the pasta. Just treat them as you would baked clams.

Stuffed Baked Mussels
makes 32
* 1 whole wheat roll, processed into bread crumbs
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 large garlic clove, minced
* Zest of a half a lemon
* 1 teaspoon Italian Seasonings
* salt & pepper
* 1/4 cup grated cheese
* 2/3 cup white wine
* olive oil for drizzling
* Chopped parsley for garnish
* Buttered angel hair pasta (optional)

1. Remove the mussels from the shells, saving clean & intact shells.
2. Process roll with garlic, grated cheese, zest and olive oil until small crumbs.
3. Chop mussels and add to stuffing mixture. Add more olive oil if needed to moisten.
4. Spoon about a teaspoon of filling into each shell and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with foil.
5. Preheat oven to 350° while you bring a gallon of salted water to a boil. Break pasta into thirds and cook according to package directions.
6. Place sheet pan in oven and pour wine into one corner. Cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes.
7. Uncover foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.
8. Strain pasta and melt a tablespoon of butter in the pasta.
9. Place baked mussels on top of pasta and spoon pan sauce over. Garnish with parsley.