Mussels with Sausage, Capsicum and Fregola Sarda
I love this kind of dish for entertaining; it’s relaxed, super tasty and comes together pretty quickly. And it can be easily scaled up if you have a big enough pan. If you have a large outdoor grill, try your hand at cooking this over the fire in a paella-type dish. If you don’t, don’t worry! Make it on the stove in a large cast-iron pan.
Combining capsicum (bell pepper), sausage and shellfish is a really good idea. It’s pretty classic in Spanish and Portuguese cuisine, and it just works. Here, I suggest adding the fregola to absorb all those delicious juices from the sausage, capsicums and mussels.
All you need to serve alongside this is a lovely green salad and some aioli (see my Aioli recipe), if you like, and you’ve got the perfect meal. Buy good-quality sausages from your local butcher.
Ingredients 12
1 kg sweet red capsicums
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
250 g fregola sarda
1.5 kg mussels
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
500 g store-bought pork sausages, remove the meat from the casings and break it into chunks
6 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
150 ml white wine
300 ml chicken stock
1⁄2 lemon, juiced, optional
oregano, fresh, to garnish
aioli, to serve, optional
Your new home
for cooking
Turn your recipe chaos into a plan for the week.
Browse 1000+ inspiring creator recipes
Unlimited recipe import from social media, blogs and more
Generate shopping lists and meal plans in seconds with AI
Method 9
First, char your on an outdoor grill or on the open flame of your stove until they are black and blistered on the outside. They must also have very soft flesh, and sometimes charring on the stove doesn’t achieve that. If they aren’t completely soft after charring, place them in a 200°C (400°F) oven for about 10 minutes, then check on them. If the flesh is soft and floppy, they are ready. If not, give them another 5 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl, cover in plastic wrap and let them cool and steam until they are cool enough to handle. Reserve any liquid that is released.
Peel off the skins and remove any seeds. Cut the peppers into wide strips and sprinkle with a bit of salt and the then set aside.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the up until a couple of minutes shy of it being completely cooked. It should be tender, but slightly al dente. Drain then set aside on a tray with a bit of to cool.
To de-beard the , hold a mussel in one hand and use a small spoon or butter knife to help you grip the stringy ‘beard’ that hangs from the flat side of the shell. Pull it back and forth until it comes out cleanly.
Heat a paella pan over a hot outdoor grill, or a cast-iron pan over a medium–high heat. Add the , then crumble in the and brown.
Once browned all over, remove from the pan and set aside. Quickly add the and sizzle that for 10 seconds, then add the , and . Cover with a lid if you’re cooking on the stove, but if you’re doing this on the grill, leave to cook uncovered. Keep an eye on it though; you will need to add a bit more water or chicken stock to compensate for all the liquid evaporating.
Once all the have opened, add the back in along with the and the , and any of their liquid. Stir everything to combine and let it all simmer for 2–3 minutes. Add a splash more water or if it’s looking dry. Check for seasoning and acidity, adding salt or if needed.
Drizzle some over the whole thing and sprinkle with the oregano.
Danielle Alvarez's tips
I have used a 38 cm (15 in) wide paella pan to cook this dish.
Fregola is a small round semolina pasta that looks a lot like large couscous. The difference is that it is classically toasted in a wood oven, so you get this incredible toasted wheat flavour from it.
