Growing up in Florida, I had the pleasure of trying lots of different seafood before I was even old enough to pronounce most of it. Lobster is my favorite along with shrimp and crab. But one of my weaknesses {and another favorite} is a bowl of hot steamed mussels. I have had them cooked in wine, curry, tomato sauce, even clam chowder. A bowl of mussels and hot crusty bread is my idea of foodie heaven! 

I came across this recipe in the cookbook, Now Eat This Italian by Chef Rocco Dispirito. 

I am a fan of his other Now Eat This cookbooks, where he cuts the calories in well known dishes. I marked quite a few recipes to try when browsing the book at the library and I knew his mussels recipe had to be a good one. 

This version of Mussels Marinara was fresh and flavorful and only took a few minutes to make. The original recipe uses fresh mussels, which I couldn’t get in my neck of the woods, so I just used two boxes of frozen, thawed mussels without the sauce packet. 

 

You can use fresh or frozen mussels for this recipe.

 I used 2 boxes of frozen mussels, thawed and removed the chunks of butter sauce. 

To cut calories Chef Rocco recommends using no fat or no sugar added chopped

 tomatoes, such as Pomi brand.

Add red pepper flakes and wine, and cook until reduced by half.

Then add the tomatoes and bring it to a simmer.

Scoop the mussels into the pan.

Stir occasionally, until they all open, about 8-10 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

You can’t serve mussels without hot, crusty 

French bread for soaking up the sauce!

I made Spinach Feta Puffs, Ava’s favorite, to go with the mussels.