Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Mussels
Easy Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Mussels are cooked in a tomato and white wine cream sauce and is the perfect recipe to serve with a crusty bread for dipping!
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds fresh mussels, depending on the size of your slow cooker
- 1 can (28 oz) canned tomatoes, diced, undrained depending on how much sauce you desire to eat with your mussels, I use 2 cans, one 28 oz and one 14 oz
- ⅓-1 cup heavy or whipping cream (35%) depending on how much tomato sauce I use or more or less to taste
- ½-1 cup dry white or red wine
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 1 can (5.5-6 oz) tomato paste
- 1 bulb fennel, bulb, trimmed, cored, thinly sliced OR whole celery stalk SEE NOTES
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 cup carrots, sliced
- 3 ribs celery ribs, sliced
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tblsp garlic, minced more or less to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes optional, more or less to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In your slow cooker add tomatoes, wine, broth, tomato paste, onions, celery, carrots, fennel bulb, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, sugar, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- I always use 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Sometimes one 28 oz and one 14 oz or two 28 oz cans because we are bread scoopers and dippers. We also love this sauce.
- Cook on low for at least 2 hours or on high for 1 hour. Vegetables must be tender.
- When you are ready to prepare your mussels you first you have to clean and scrub them. Next, you must remove their beards. You do this by pulling out the hair-like strands around the shell of each mussel, usually with a knife. If you see any shells that are open, discard them. Discard any that are cracked or not sealed shut.
- Add mussels, cover and cook on high until the mussels open, between 15 and 25 minutes. Discard any mussels that do not open. Add cream, stir and serve.
- Any mussels that do not open while cooking may be dead and as the flesh deteriorates, the bacteria that is created can cause severe food poisoning amongst other things. You must discard all of the mussels that did not open up.
Storing your cooked mussels
- After you prepare the mussels, they can be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 3 days or your freezer for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
With this recipe, if I can't find fennel or I'm not in the mood, I usually just leave it out and add extra celery. Usually the entire stalk, not just 3 ribs.
If celery doesn't interest you, than Bok choy, extra onion and leeks are other options.
Bok choy or white cabbage, common in savory Asian cuisine, has a cabbage like flavor, and has the same texture.
Extra onion, either white, red or purple can be added, are mildly sweet and aromatic, but in cooked dishes can easily lose their flavor.
Leeks can be added, instead of onion, for a sweet onion flavor.
Recipe Adapted from Canadian Living Magazine