• 1 kilo fresh mussels, rinses, cleaned and debearded
  • 1/3 cup white wine
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Small amount of sea salt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
  • 2 cups tomato passata
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely choped
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
  • 200g feta cheese, rinsed
Rinse the mussels; discard any damaged or open ones that don’t close when tapped. Place in a saucepan and add the white wine. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, shaking the pan occasionally; cook for 4 minutes. Remove the mussels and keep the cooking liquid. Discard any unopened mussels.
Strain the cooking liquid through a fine sieve and reserve.
Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and fry  for 1 minute.  Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, parsley and black pepper to taste.  Only add a tiny amount of salt as the feta can be quite salty.
Add the reserved mussel cooking liquid to the frying pan bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has slightly thickened. 
Add the mussels to the tomato sauce, stir and make sure every mussel is covered with the tomato sauce, heat through for about 3 minutes.  Rinse the feta and crumble the feta over the top.  Remove from the heat and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.
Serve directly onto the table with a pot of hot pasta, some crusty white bread and a fresh garden salad.
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Buon appetito, enjoy Merryn xx
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