Jenny and I have stayed away from seafood a bit.

Yeah, we did crab not long ago, but that’s no excuse.

That’s a shame.

We both love seafood/shellfish.

We especially love mussels.

There’s a place here in town that does a great mussels marinara. We wanted to recreate  it as best we could.

We bought some good mussels at a reasonable price from Whole Foods (who knew, right?), then got the rest of our supplies at Gene’s Sausage Market (greatest place on Earth).

That included a house-made hot Italian sausage.

So we cut ten tomatoes in half, seasoned them with chopped thyme and oregano, and roasted them for two hours in the oven at 350 F.

When they were cooked thoroughly, we removed their skins and pureed them until almost smooth.

A little chunkiness is nice.

Keeps it from being like any silly pre-made sauce you get in a jar.

We sauteed one Spanish onion and a few garlic cloves, then deglazed the pan with a tablespoon of red wine, then added the tomato puree and cooked it on low heat for about a half hour.

Then we salted and sugared it to taste and added about a quarter cup of white wine and let that all reduce for ten minutes.

The sausage we had cooked in a pan earlier (and reserved its juices for the marinara sauce), then sliced.

We also drank PBR and said red wine. you don’t have to do that though; it’s just recommended.

When the sauce was done and the sausage added, we placed the pan of sauce on the grill with fifteen mussels and let them cook slowly.

As soon as they were all fully opened, we removed the pan, oiled and seasoned some slices of baguette and grilled them.

Then we ate.

It’s important that you eat.

It’s also important that you eat well.

Not that I don’t love a Big Mac, but that’s neither here nor there.

Thanks to our local, national, and international friends.

Goodnight.

-K&J