Broiled Mussels With Garlicky Herb Butter

Garlic-laden herb butter is often called snail butter, because the French use it on roasted snails. But it’s too good to be relegated to snails — after all, how often do you cook snails? In this recipe, the green-flecked butter, flavored with a little Pernod, is slathered on mussels on the half shell, then broiled until the tops are brown-edged and golden. Although this recipes is somewhat involved, none of the steps are hard, and every except for the broiling can be done in advance. Save any leftover mussels and butter to toss with hot pasta for dinner the next day.

Ingredients

• ½ cup parsley leaves
• 2 large garlic cloves
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons Pernod or pastis
• 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed
• ⅓ cup bread crumbs

• Nutritional Information

  • Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

    213 calories; 13 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 55 milligrams cholesterol; 405 milligrams sodium

  Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.
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8 to 12 servings

Preparation

1. In a food processor, pulse together parsley, garlic, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Pulse in butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons Pernod until mixture is combined. Scrape into a bowl.
2. In a soup pot with a tightfitting lid, combine mussels, 1/4 cup pastis and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until mussels have opened, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer mussels to a bowl until cool enough to handle; remove meat from the shells (reserving shells) and transfer to a bowl.
3. Pry apart mussel shells and arrange half the shells on one or two large baking sheets; discard remaining shells. Place one mussel in each shell. Top each with a small spoonful of herb butter and a sprinkling of bread crumbs. Mussels may be made up to 1 day ahead up to this point; wrap baking sheets and mussels in plastic wrap and refrigerate. When ready to serve, heat broiler to high and arrange a rack 4 inches from the heat. Transfer tray(s) to the oven and broil until bread crumbs are golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

35 minutes