Mussels and Sweet Leeks

Ingredients

• 3 medium leeks, cleaned and roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• Olive oil
• 2 knobs (tablespoons) butter
• 1/2 glass (about 3 ounces) Marsala, sherry, or white wine
• 1/4 pint (140 milliliters) cream
• 2 1/2 pounds (1.1kilograms) mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
• A good handful of parsley, roughly chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a large pan, slowly fry the leeks and garlic in a good lug of olive oil and the butter. After 5 minutes, they should be very soft and sweet to taste. Pour in the alcohol, turn the heat up, and simmer for 1 minute until the alcohol smell disappears, leaving you with the fantastic essence.

Then add the cream, bring back to the boil, and add all the mussels. Simply boil with a lid on until all the mussels have opened, discard any that remain closed.

To make life easier, you could make the sauce in advance and keep it in the refrigerator until you need to cook the mussels. This is kind of handy if you are having a party as you'll have more time to chill out with a drink.

When the mussels are cooked, stir in the parsley and correct the seasoning. Serve in a large bowl with some crusty bread.