Recipes

This is a great dish to turn to when you’re looking to impress friends with big flavor using little effort. First, we marinate our tinned mussels in urfa chili caramelized shallot and garlic. We then pile these smokey and spicy mussels on a cloud of cooling, garlic scented labne. This dish is great as a light appetizer, or an unexpected breakfast - especially when served with toasted bread.

2 tablespoons ghee

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, grated on a Microplane

1 teaspoon urfa chili

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

1 tin Ekone Original Mussels

Seasoned labneh, ingredients follow

A few sprigs dill, to garnish

Toasted sourdough bread, to serve

For the seasoned labneh:

1 garlic clove, grated on a Microplane

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ cup labneh

A small pinch of salt

To season the labneh, add the grated garlic and lemon juice to a small bowl. Set aside to macerate for 5 minutes. Add the labneh and a pinch of salt to the bowl and stir well to incorporate.

Heat a small frying pan over medium low heat. Add the ghee and sliced shallots to the pan and stir well to coat the shallots in the warm fat. Season with a pinch of salt, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the shallots have begun to take on some color - 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic, urfa chili, and smoked paprika and stir well. Cook for a minute or two to let the sharpness of the garlic mellow and the flavors of the spices bloom. Add the mussels to the pan and toss to coat in all of the flavorful goodness.

To serve, add the seasoned labneh to a serving bowl, creating a small well in the center to make space for the mussels. Add the marinated mussels to the center of the bowl, and garnish with the dill.