Recipe - Mussels With Ham Peppers And Tomatoes

2 pound Mussels, cleaned
1/8 teaspoon Saffron thread, crumbled
One fourth cup Dry white wine
1 Onion, minced
2 ounce Thickly cut or sliced up smoked ham,
chopped fine
One half Red bell pepper, chopped
fine
One half Green bell pepper, chopped
fine
3 tablespoon Olive oil
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 pound Can tomatoes, drained well
and chopped

In a large pot place the cleaned mussels and pour Three fourths cup of boiling water
into the pot. Cover and steam for about 3 minutes or until mussels open.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Transfer the mussels with a slotted
spoon to a bowl, reserving the liquid, and strain the liquid through a fine
sieve into another small bowl.

In a small bowl let the saffron soak in the wine for 15 minutes. In a large
heavy skillet cook the onion, the ham, and the bell peppers in the oil over
moderate heat, stirring, until the vegetables are softened, add the garlic,
and cook the mixture, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook
the mixture, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until it is thickened. Add the
saffron mixture and the reserved mussel liquid and boil the mixture until
most of the liquid is evaporated. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and
let it cool to room temperature. While the sauce is cooling discard the top
shell from each mussel and loosen the mussels from the bottom shells. Top
the mussels with the sauce and arrange them on a platter.

Yield: about 30 mussels

NOTES : (Courtesy of Gourmet Magazine) Recipe by: Cooking live Show #CL8826

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #492 by Angele Freeman jfreeman@netusa1.net
on Mar 2, 1997.