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Mussels, leeks and bacon on sourdough toast

The most delicious mussels, leeks and bacon on sourdough toast dish by Giles Edwards of the late La Tete restaurant in Cape Town.

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Servings: 4 as a starter
Cuisine: French

Ingredients

  • 400 gms fresh mussels in the shell cleaned
  • 1 ½ cups white wine
  • 2 leeks washed and cut into 4cm long pieces
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 100 gms pancetta or thick-cut streaky bacon cut into lardons cubed
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • half a lemon
  • 2 lices sourdough bread
  • Olive oil for frying the bread

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Steam the mussels in a medium pot with 1 cup of white wine until they open. Strain the cooking liquor through a muslin cloth and reserve it. Allow the mussels to cool and then remove them from their shell.
  2. Braise the leeks in a small pot with the lid on with the remaining ½ cup of wine and 2 tablespoons of butter. It will take around 50 minutes to one hour depending on how thick your leeks are. Cook this on very low heat and check to ensure the liquid doesn’t dry up at the end.
  3. Fry the sourdough bread in a non-stick pan with olive oil until golden brown on both sides. Set aside.
  4. Using the same pan cook the pancetta/bacon until golden brown and crispy. Drain on a paper towel wiping down the pan with any excess fat.
  5. Add the cooking liquid (from the mussels), the leeks and the bacon back to the pan and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the mussels, remaining tablespoon of butter and chopped parsley and gently shake the pan or stir so that the butter emulsifies with the liquid.
  6. Finish off with the juice of about half a small lemon and serve on top of the fried sourdough ‘crouton’. The bread soaks up all the juices, which is utterly delicious.