Mythopilafo - Mussels and Rice Pilaf
This is a favourite at any time of the year. The pilaf (pilafi in greek) is a perfect dish to enjoy with a glass of ouzo. We eat this meat-egg-dairy-free plate as a complete meal with a glass of wine, a plate of olives, a lettuce salad, some heavy bread and a piece of fruit or halvas to finish the meal.
I normally use a packet of ready steamed mussels along with a handful of fresh mussels still in their shell...if we have any fresh
There are several ways of preparing this dish. I boil the rice separately and make a tomato sauce to which I add the mussels and the rice
Tomato Sauce for Mydopilafo
Brown a chopped onion and a few cloves of garlic in olive oil. When these are soft add a wine glass of ouzo to the pot. You could just use wine.
Mix in a tin of chopped tomatoes or three big grated tomatoes and all their juice. Add chopped parsley, salt and lots of fresh pepper. A spoon of tomato paste adds colour if you're using fresh tomatoes.
Mix the sauce into the hot boiled rice and add the mussels.
Kali Orexi
Crete coming up soon!
I still am not having carbs. So I can’t eat this. But it would be a lovely dish to make and take to a family bbq. I guess I could make the sauce and rice before hand. Then heat the sauce and add it to the ride and just prepare the fresh sea food when I get there
ReplyDeleteWould give me a great excuse to bring a bottle of ouzo!
Make sure there's a bit of ouzo in the sauce too!
DeleteAre you living a keto lifestyle? I'm trying to cut down on carbs. No bread, rice, macaroni, that's easy. When I make dolmathes or yemista I use more meat than rice.
This sounds totally delicious, I'd be back for seconds.
ReplyDeleteIt took me 63 and a half years to get beyond a childhood aversion to mussels. The Christmas before last I was ill with (real) flu, not just a heavy cold; when I finally started to recover there was just one thing I wanted to eat - mussels...I couldn't believe what my brain was crying out for something I didn't like... Husband dashed out to buy some, relieved that I wanted to eat something at last. That small plateful of mussels was the most delicious food ever! I suppose they contain something my body really needed.
zinc maybe?
DeleteGood girl, listening to your body. We have fresh mussels tonight, steamed with a dash of ouzo and oil.
DeleteMussels are very rare here, may be i can find something else to cook with the rice which looks so good.I am always inspired by your cooking:)
ReplyDeleteKalamari is good with a rice sauce, shrimps too but do you get those?
DeleteI can find shrimps, i'll look for it.
DeleteThese posts are making me hungry
ReplyDeleteYou are hungry because you're working so hard!!!
DeleteCrete coming up soon!!!
ReplyDeleteHooooray!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!!!!
I started writing the first post but so much came up and i hasn't even mentioned Crete. It ll be my life story in the end!
DeleteI adore mussells, am a total seafood freak, I love the smoked ones here you can buy.
ReplyDeleteWish we could get smoked mussels, or any kind of smoked fish!
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