Mussels en papillote with garlic baguette and flageolet beans
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- no cooking required
- Serve
- Serves 4
This seafood main steams mussels in baking parchment parcels with tomatoes, ginger, chilli and white wine. The slow-cooked flageolet beans make it a generous meal, and the garlic baguette is there for soaking up the juices. You’ll need baking parchment and kitchen string.
Ingredients
For the beans
For the mussels en papillote
- 900g/2lb ripe heirloom tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 5cm/2in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely shredded
- 2 pinches crumbled dried red chilli
- 1.8kg/4lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 500ml/18fl oz Vermentino or similar dry white wine
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 1 large handful basil leaves
For the garlic baguette
Method
To make the beans, drain the soaked beans in a colander and rinse well under cold water.
Put the beans in a wide, heavy saucepan and cover with cold water so it sits about 5cm/2in above the beans.
Add the sage, garlic bulb, tomato, chilli and a generous drizzle of olive oil, enough to cover much of the water’s surface in a thin film.
Scrunch up a sheet of baking parchment large enough to cover the pan, then flatten it out and lay it directly on the surface of the liquid. Alternatively, cover the pan with a lid.
Bring to a simmer over a medium heat, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.
Once the cooking liquid is mostly clear, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook at a gentle simmer for 2–3 hours, topping up with small splashes of water as needed, until the beans are tender.
As the beans finish cooking, add small splashes of water as needed so the cooked beans are submerged by about 1cm/½in of cooking liquid. They should be creamy throughout and yield to gentle pressure.
Preheat the oven to 250C/230C Fan/Gas 9, or as hot as your oven will go.
Transfer the pan to the oven for 10 minutes to finish plumping the beans.
Taste at least three beans from different parts of the pan to make sure they’re evenly cooked. If any still have a bite, continue cooking until tender.
Remove the pan from the oven and season the cooking liquor generously with salt.
Leave the beans to cool in their cooking liquor for at least 30 minutes so they absorb the seasoning.
Remove and discard the garlic, sage and chilli. Taste the beans once cooled and season with more salt, if needed.
For the mussels en papillote, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Score the top and bottom of each tomato with a cross and prepare a large bowl of iced water.
Add the tomatoes to the boiling water and keep them submerged with a small lid or plate. After 10 seconds, remove the lid or plate. The skins should be peeling away at the scored crosses.
Lift the tomatoes out with a slotted spoon and drop them into the iced water.
When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, lift them from the iced water, then peel and discard the skins.
Set a sieve over a medium bowl. Halve the tomatoes horizontally and squeeze each half over the sieve to catch the seeds and juices.
Press the seeds in the sieve to extract as much juice as possible, then discard the seeds.
Tear the tomatoes into mussel-sized pieces over the bowl of tomato juice, discarding the cores.
Put the finely chopped garlic, olive oil, ginger, dried chilli and a pinch of salt in a large, heavy pan. Warm over a medium heat for about 1 minute, until the garlic starts to bubble.
Add the tomatoes and their juices, stir together and season with salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.
Put a baking tray on the centre shelf of the oven to heat up. Put another shelf in the top part of the oven.
Cut 8 rectangles of baking parchment, each about 30x38cm/12x15in. Cut 4 pieces of kitchen string, each about 12cm/4½in long.
Lay 2 sheets of parchment crosswise to form an X, then put them into a shallow soup bowl. Repeat with the remaining parchment. The bowls will support the parchment and help stop the juices escaping while you assemble the parcels.
Discard any mussels with broken shells and any open mussels that don’t close when tapped.
Divide about one-quarter of the tomato mixture between the parcels. Add one-quarter of the mussels and 125ml/4fl oz wine to each parcel, then spoon the remaining tomato mixture over the top.
Top each parcel with a few basil leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and a piece of butter.
Bring the corners of the parchment up and around the mussels. Gather the paper together and tie firmly with kitchen string.
Put the parcels on the hot baking tray and roast for 10 minutes.
Carefully open one parcel, keeping your face away from the steam. If the mussels have opened, remove the parcels from the oven. If not, cook for a little longer until the mussels open. Discard any mussels that remain closed.
For the garlic baguette, snap the baguette in half across the middle. Cut each piece in half lengthways to make 4 large pieces.
Put the bread on a baking tray, cut-side up. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.
Toast on the top shelf of the oven for about 5 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
Rub the cut garlic cloves over the cut sides of the toasted bread.
Serve the mussel parcels in shallow bowls with the garlic baguette and flageolet beans alongside.
Recipe tips
The beans can be cooled completely and stored in their cooking liquor in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Save the bean cooking liquor for soups, purées or other recipes.
