Tomato basil muscles. These are a delicious summer dish and pretty easy to make. Start out by slicing up a half pound of panchetta, guanchchal, or bacon and cook in a large pan on medium heat until it’s nice and crispy. Then set aside. Remove some oil from the pan, leaving about 3 tablespoons. Then add one large minced shallot, two tablespoons of minced garlic, red pepper flakes to taste, one cup of dry white wine, one cup of chicken broth, 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream, 4 tbsp of butter, chicken bullion powder, and salt and pepper to taste, and 1 and 1/2 cups of sliced cherry tomatoes. Then you’re going to add in around 2 lbs of muscles that have been scrubbed clean. And make sure to throw out any that were opened prior to cooking. Then lightly toss this all together and cook covered for about 5 to 7 minutes or until all the muscles open. Then take off the heat and add in the juice from one lemon, your crispy guanchal or bacon or panetta, and a generous amount of fresh basil. Serve this right away with the broth and some bread to dip into it. Follow along for more recipes and enjoy.
Dining and Cooking