Seafood: how to cook mussels in shells and peeled?

Mussels are relatively inexpensive but very healthy shellfish. Despite the fact that they are called “poor man’s oysters,” the dishes they make are very tasty. Today you can buy shellfish both peeled and in shells. Many people prefer the second option, since during the process of preparing shellfish in the shells, it is easy to find and discard all the stale ones. Of course, in this case you need to know how to cook mussels in shells correctly. Today, the intricacies of this technology are familiar not only to chefs of elite restaurants. Many housewives easily cope with the task at home.

Features of selection and preparation

In order for a dish of mussels in shells to be tasty, healthy and safe, you need to know the basic rules for their selection and preparation.

When choosing fresh or frozen mussels in shells, preference should be given to large ones, since small ones will have very little valuable meat - about the size of a bean seed.
Look carefully at mussels when purchasing. You can only take shellfish whose shells are intact and closed. Damaged shells usually occur if the product has been repeatedly frozen and defrosted. Open shells indicate that the mollusk is sick, dead, or simply very stale. If you buy fresh mussels, you can try knocking on the shell - if it closes, then everything is in order, the mussel is alive, and you can safely take it and cook it.
If you are going to cook frozen mussels in their shells, you will need to defrost them first. It is best to let them thaw in the refrigerator. This way the shellfish will better retain their beneficial properties.
The mussel shells must be peeled until smooth before cooking. This can be done using a dull knife, which should be used to scrape the shells well.
Before washing, mussels can be immersed in cold water for a couple of hours. In this case, it will be easier to wash them from sand. In addition, this procedure will help to immediately get rid of dead mollusks: the living ones will sink to the bottom, and the dead ones will remain on the surface.
Mussels in shells can be boiled, stewed, or baked in the oven. Regardless of the cooking method, it is important to select and discard any mussels whose shells have not opened after 5-7 minutes of cooking. This indicates that the product is not fresh, and it is easy to get poisoned by missing mussels.
To improve the taste of mussels, you can boil and stew them with the addition of wine, lemon juice, tomatoes, milk, garlic sauce, dill, pepper, and celery. The choice of one or more of these ingredients depends on the recipe.
Serve the mussels with the top part of the shell removed. You can remove the clam from the bottom of the shell using a fork. In some restaurants, when serving mussels, the table is served with tongs. They are needed in order to grab the removed part of the shell and use it to extract the shellfish meat from the remaining part.

Mussel meat goes well with white wine. If you offer these shellfish to your guests, it doesn’t hurt to put a bottle of white wine on the table.

Seashells “naval style”

The question of how to cook shells may not be a problem for you if there are leftover minced meat lingering in the refrigerator. Based on it, a wonderful gravy is made, with which any pasta is eaten with a bang.

Cut 1 large onion into half rings and fry it until soft. Next, place the minced meat in the pan and simmer for 5-7 minutes over low heat. Add 3 diced tomatoes, a couple of bay leaves, a few peas of allspice, a pinch of coriander and simmer the sauce until tender. At the end, add salt, crushed garlic (to taste) and ground black pepper. Boil the shells, pour over the sauce, sprinkle with chopped fresh dill. And the food looks delicious and tastes great, right?

How to cook boiled mussels in shells

Compound:

mussels in shells – 2 kg;
water – 1 l;
lemon – 1 pc.;
salt – 20 g;
ground black pepper - to taste.

Cooking method:

Immerse the mussels in cool water for half an hour, remove, brush on all sides with a brush, scrape with a knife and rinse in running water.
Wash the lemon, cut it in half, squeeze the juice out of it. Remove any seeds that have gotten into the juice. Pour the juice into a thick-walled saucepan.
Pour a liter of cold water into the pan, add salt and pepper, stir.
Place clean mussels in their shells into the pan. Place the pan over medium heat, covering it with a lid.
When the water boils, wait 5 minutes and check the mussels. Remove the shellfish whose shells have already opened from the pan.
Check the readiness of the mussels again after 2-3 minutes. Remove the opened ones from the pan, discard the unopened ones.

Serve boiled mussels immediately after cooking. Apart from white wine, beer will be a good choice for drinks.

You can cook mussels in water mixed with dry white wine. The optimal ratio of these components is 1:1. The taste of the finished mussels in this case will be completely different, more delicate and refined.

There is no need to ensure that the liquid completely covers the shellfish during cooking. Mussel shells open when exposed to steam.

You can cook any mussels according to the given recipe: frozen or fresh. They can be eaten immediately, but other dishes are often prepared using them. Including salads.

Pasta with cottage cheese, feta cheese

Another common dish that even a novice housewife can easily handle is shell pasta, the photo of which you see, with feta cheese or cottage cheese. First, boil them. After washing, season with butter to prevent sticking. Or frying onions with vegetable oil. Grate a piece of cheese on a coarse grater, place in shells and stir. Place food on plates, sprinkle with parsley and serve. Instead of cheese, add cottage cheese to the pasta and mix well, adding salt if necessary. Greens will not be superfluous in this version of the dish either. It goes well with fresh vegetable salads.

Fresh mussels baked in shells

Compound:

fresh mussels in shells – 1 kg;
fresh tomatoes – 0.3 kg;
stale bread – 40 g;
olive oil – 20 ml;
garlic – 2 cloves;
parsley - 1 sprig;
cloves – 1 pc.;
salt, pepper - to taste;
water – 0.5 l.

Cooking method:

Pour water into the pan. Place the peeled and washed mussels in their shells into it.
Place the pan over high heat. Wait for the shells to open. Remove the tops by removing the mussels from the pan and letting them cool slightly.
Crush the garlic.
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and remove the skins. Grate the tomato pulp, chop with a blender or rub through a sieve. Mix with garlic.
Grind salt, pepper and cloves in a mortar.
Grate stale bread and add to tomato puree.
Put the spicy mixture there.
Add olive oil, stir.
Place the mussels, shell side down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Place tomato mixture on top of each mussel.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and place a baking sheet in it.

How to prepare seafood for consumption? Shellfish.

Let's talk about shellfish such as squid, mussels, scallops and sea cucumbers. By the way, shellfish are allowed to be eaten during Lent, but only on Saturdays and Sundays, when a general relaxation in the severity of fasting is allowed.

Squid

. As a rule, squid weigh up to 350 grams. But there are also those that reach 750 grams. They should be stored and processed correctly, as the quality of the prepared dishes depends on this.

It is better to defrost frozen squid in air or in water at a temperature of 18-20 degrees. After they thaw, their insides are removed. To get rid of the skin, scald them with hot water for 4-5 minutes, stirring continuously. After scalding, rinse with cold water.

If you want to reduce weight loss, then you need to scald the squid for no more than 30 seconds, then also rinse with cold water. True, with this option, the squids acquire a pink color.

Squids should be placed in boiling salted water and cooked over low heat for 2-3 minutes. For one kilogram of squid, take two liters of water. They need to be cooled in the broth. You can also steam squid. This will take about 7-10 minutes. Before frying, squid should be boiled for only one minute so that the meat is not tough.

Squid can be added to various salads, vinaigrettes, and soups. They go very well with vegetables, cereals, legumes, fish and cheese.

Scallop

. This is an ordinary bivalve shell. Its meat is very tender and tasty. The edible part is the muscle and mantle.

Boil it in boiling salted water for 7-10 minutes. For better taste and aroma, add roots and spices to the water. After cooking, the shellfish are cooled and cut.

Scallops are very suitable for preparing gourmet dishes and appetizers, salads, and first courses. They can also be baked and fried.

Mussel

. The mussels taste like the white of a boiled egg with a fishy aftertaste. They contain a large amount of iodine, so it is recommended to use mussels for medicinal and dietary purposes. Especially for patients with atherosclerosis. Like the scallop, the muscle and mantle are eaten.

Before cooking, mussel shells should be sorted out, cleaned off with a knife, filled with cold water and left for several hours. After this, rinse and boil again.

Boil the mussels in boiling salted water for 15-20 minutes. Now you can open the shells and remove the meat from them, rinsing again, but in boiled water.

Mussels are also good for preparing salads, cold and hot appetizers, and soups.

Sea cucumbers

. These are representatives of echinoderm mollusks. They have an elongated, rounded shape, which is why they are nicknamed sea cucumbers. Their meat tastes like sturgeon cartilage.

Sea cucumbers can be sold dried. Dried sea cucumbers are coated with charcoal powder, which is used in the drying process. Therefore, before use, they must be thoroughly rinsed with warm water. Then they need to be filled with cold water and left to swell for a day. During the day, the water should be changed 2-3 times. Their mass should increase approximately five times. The next day they will need to be taken out of the water and cleaned - cut along the abdomen and remove the remaining entrails, then rinse again.

Sea cucumbers are dipped in boiling salted water and cooked over low heat for 2-3 hours. When the meat becomes soft, the sea cucumbers are ready and can be used for cooking. You can prepare sauces and cold dishes from sea cucumbers; they can also be stewed and fried.

I hope that now it will not be difficult for you to prepare seafood for consumption. They will add variety to your everyday table and will be a good decoration for a festive dinner.

Tags: healthy eating, seafood, diet, cooking, recipes

The benefits and harms of shellfish

From a nutritional point of view, both sea and freshwater mussels are a valuable product. They are rich in protein and essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals. This makes them useful for:

Of cardio-vascular system;
Immunity;
Men's and women's health;
Exchange processes.

The polyunsaturated fats they contain improve the condition of hair and skin, and zinc has a positive effect on the male reproductive system. Also, their regular use improves metabolism in the body and improves the functioning of the endocrine system.

But still, doctors do not recommend eating river inhabitants.

.
Fresh water contains more bacteria and a lot of silt and dirt. Shells pass all this through themselves and accumulate. Therefore, their use can be hazardous to health. Although it is known that people collect freshwater shellfish and eat them without experiencing discomfort. Perhaps it has to do with the method of preparation and processing
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Stuffing macaroni with cheese

250 gr. cannelloni, pasta tubes;
300 gr. minced pork and beef;
2 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil;
150 gr. any hard cheese;
4 cloves of garlic;
1 small bell pepper;
1 ripe medium sized tomato;
1 onion;
add fresh herbs to taste; parsley, rosemary and basil go harmoniously with the ingredients of this Italian dish;
add salt and pepper to taste.

Cooking secrets from Italian chefs

1. Boil the pasta over low heat for about 5 minutes until it becomes elastic and soft, but not until fully cooked. Rinse them in cold water for several minutes.

2. Heat a frying pan, pour in one tablespoon of vegetable oil, gradually add minced meat and fry it evenly over medium heat.

3.Grate the cheese on a coarse grater.

4.When the minced meat is cooked, remove it from the heat, salt and pepper to taste. Add half of the grated cheese and mix thoroughly.

5. Peel the vegetables. The pepper is cut into thin strips. Tomatoes are cut into medium-sized cubes, and onions into half rings.

6.Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and place vegetables in it, sauté over medium heat. Lastly add finely chopped garlic.

7. Stuff the pasta tightly with minced meat and place them on a high-sided baking sheet so that they touch each other.

8.Pour half a glass of water into a baking tray.

9.Place the vegetable mixture evenly on top, then sprinkle the remaining half of the grated cheese.

10.Bake at 180 degrees. In 20 minutes the dish will be ready.

How to cook large pasta shells with filling?

Stuffed shells are an incredibly tasty, satisfying and impressively presented dish. Giant pasta can be filled dry and baked with sauce in the oven, or stuffed after boiling in salted water until al denete. Pasta is often filled with mushroom, meat, cheese, curd or vegetable fillings.

Large stuffed shells will retain their appetizing appearance if they are pre-cooked.
To prevent the shells from breaking, you should boil them in plenty of water. You need to take out the finished pasta and let it dry.
If the recipe calls for baking dry stuffed pasta with sauce, you need to monitor the amount of sauce. He must tear the pasta completely, otherwise it will dry out in the oven.

Stuffed pasta shells with minced meat

Shells stuffed with minced meat are an excellent option for a tasty and satisfying dish. The combination of pasta and minced meat is recognized as a classic and is widely represented in cooking. To prepare the filling, it is better to use two types of meat: beef and pork. The minced meat should be chopped - then it will retain its juiciness during baking.

shells - 15 pcs.;
minced beef - 200 g;
minced pork - 100 g;
onion - 1 pc.;
clove of garlic - 3 pcs.;
mozzarella - 50 g;
cream - 50 ml;
fresh parsley - a handful.

Fry onion, garlic and minced meat.
Boil the shells.
Fill them with meat filling, cheese and cream.
Bake shells stuffed with meat for 7 minutes at 220 degrees.
Garnish with herbs and serve.

Stuffed shells with minced meat in sour cream sauce

Stuffed shells in the oven is one of the most popular ways to prepare this type of pasta. The peculiarity of the recipe is that dry shells are filled with minced meat and baked with sauce. Sour cream sauce is especially appropriate here: it will add juiciness, tenderness and slight sourness. For the dish to be successful, the shells must be completely hidden under the sauce.

shells - 350 g;
minced meat - 500 g;
onion - 1 pc.;
egg - 1 pc.;
cheese - 100 g;
semolina - 100 g;
sour cream - 300 g;
water - 150 ml.

Combine minced meat, grated cheese, semolina and egg.
Stuff the shells.
For sour cream sauce, simmer the onion in sour cream and water.
Place shell pasta stuffed with minced meat in a mold and pour sauce over it.
Bake under foil at 230 degrees for 30 minutes.

Stuffed pasta shells with minced meat and pepper

Pasta shells with minced meat will become tastier and juicier if you add bell pepper to the filling. The latter will give the dish freshness, aroma, appetizing and eliminate the need to prepare a vegetable side dish. Pepper goes well with pork and complements its sweetish taste, so when choosing minced meat, it is better to use pork.

shells - 12 pcs.;
pepper - 1 pc.;
minced pork - 250 g;
cream - 80 ml;
onion - 1 pc.;
cheese - 150 g.

Fry the pepper, onion and minced meat.
Add cream and 100 g of grated cheese to the resulting mixture.
Fill the cooked shells with minced meat and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Bake the stuffed shell pasta for 15 minutes at 180 degrees.

Stuffed shells with bechamel sauce

Stuffed shells with bechamel sauce are an example of how to properly serve a classic pasta casserole. This sauce is often used in pasta dishes, adding tenderness and making the dish richer and creamier. With bechamel, you can use almost any filling, since the sauce is universal.

shells - 250 g;
minced beef - 500 g;
nutmeg - 5 g;
butter - 120 g;
flour - 80 g;
milk - 750 ml;
onion - 1 pc.

Fry the minced meat and onion.
Boil the shells.
Stuff the shells with minced meat.
For the sauce, melt the butter and add flour.
While stirring, add milk.
Wait for a homogeneous consistency and season.
Pour the sauce over the stuffed shell pasta and bake at 180 degrees for 25 minutes.

What are the benefits of mussels?

The benefits of mussels are determined by the composition of their meat (muscle), as well as the mantle and shell fluid, which are also used to prepare delicious dishes.

The inclusion of mussels in the diet of a modern person (with regular consumption) provides:

improvement of metabolism;
improving immune status.

Mussel meat is a product that can provide fairly reliable prevention of arthritis. And besides, such meat stimulates:

circulation;
removing toxins and waste from the body.

Mussel meat is literally saturated with mineral salts, vitamins (here almost the entire group B, as well as vitamins PP, E and D), and microelements. Mussels contain a lot of phosphorus, iron, manganese, zinc and cobalt. High content of iodine, as well as healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Like any seafood, mussels have a beneficial effect on activity. They also improve mood and prevent numerous nervous disorders. Regular consumption of mussels is the key to strong bones, prolonging external youth, and maintaining the natural beauty of skin and hair.

The positive effect of mussel meat, mantle and shell fluid on male potency has been proven. Some doctors even call this product "natural Viagra."

But mussels are not recommended for children, pregnant and lactating women due to some features of their existence that can affect the quality of nutrition of these population groups. So not everyone can appreciate the beneficial properties of mussels.

What is important to know to prepare delicious stuffed pasta

There are two ways to prepare stuffed pasta:

In the first case, raw pasta is used, which greatly simplifies the cooking process.
When preparing the second recipe, the pasta is pre-boiled a little before baking it in the oven.

Stuffed pasta sauce

Any of the recipes involves the use of sauce to give the dish a unique taste and aroma. To prepare stuffed pasta, use a choice of the following types, which can highlight the taste and give a special aroma:

In a slow cooker

You can quickly cook shells in a slow cooker, and all products do not require pre-treatment.

Required Products:

sour cream and tomato paste - 2 tablespoons each;
approximately 400 grams of minced meat;
150 grams of cheese;
packaging of shells;
one onion;
seasonings as desired.

Cooking process:

Add chopped onion and selected seasonings to the meat.
There is no need to bring the pasta to readiness; we immediately start filling it. Then put it in a bowl.
Fill with a mixture of spices, sour cream and tomato paste. Add water until the shells are completely covered with liquid.
Set the “Baking” mode for 30 minutes. When everything is ready, add grated cheese.