Mussels in Saffron Sauce

An ideal buffet dish or a summer starter. More a restaurant dish than family Italian style

Serves 6 as a starter

Ingredients

2 kg mussels in shell, fresh and unopened
1 large onion
1 parsley stalk
2 dl of dry white wine
1 stalk of thyme
half leaf of laurel
freshly ground pepper
a pinch of good saffron
25 ml approx of olive oil

Scrub the mussels well, changing the water often (if you have difficulty finding clean mussels they can be purified by soaking overnight in milk).

Put them into a big saucepan with all the ingredients, except the oil. Bring to the boil, shaking the saucepan often until all the mussels are open. At this point, pour them out of the pan and strain the cooking liquid into a small pan.

Bring the strained liquid to a fierce boil, add the oil (this should lightly emulsify) and let it reduce to a half. Let cool.

Arrange the shelled mussels onto a serving plate and cover with the cooking juices.

Serve this very cold.