Mussels with Bacon and Rapini

Easy, Moderate, Complex

Yields 4 portions

Ingredients

• 4 thick slices of crusty bread
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 teaspoon of steak spice
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• ½ pound of thick cut bacon, diced (225 grams)
• 1 medium sized Spanish onion, halved and sliced
• 2 cups of red cherry tomatoes, whole (500 ml)
• 2 pounds of mussels, scrubbed and debearded (900 grams)
• ¾ cup of white wine
• ¾ cup of water
• 1/2 head of rapini
• 1/4 cup of dill, chopped
• ¼ cup of chives, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter (30 ml)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.  Chop up bread into thick cubes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat until crispy, about 7 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Add cubed up bread to pan to soak up all the excess bacon fat, add pepper and let it go on medium to low heat until bread crisps up. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. For the rapini, bring a large pot of water to boil for 30 seconds. Add whole rapini and blanch for 45 seconds. Remove and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Drain and roughly chop. Set aside.
4.  In another pan, add onions and cook for 2 minutes then add cherry tomatoes and continue cooking for 5 minutes.  Add wine, cover and cook for 2 minutes then add mussels and water and cook until they begin to open, about 5-7 minutes. Add rapini to the pan of muscles and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, discard unopened mussels, add bacon, dill, chives, butter lemon juice, salt and pepper and serve with croutons on top.