MasterChef at Home: Make These Chilli Mussels With Chorizo and Pretend You’re in Europe

MasterChef contestant Christina Batista sadly saw her time on the series come to an end after a Pressure Test set by Tarts Anon’s Gareth Whitton resulted in a slightly undercooked tart. But while the cook’s time on the show has come to a close, her relationship with good, wholesome food is far from over. On departing the MasterChef kitchen, Christina shared her favourite quick and easy recipe with Lifehacker Australia: mussels and chorizo.

The recipe, which creates the perfect dish for cold nights at home, combines the flavours of wine, mussels and fresh herbs. Pair that with a little crusty bread and you’re in for an incredibly indulgent meal.

Here’s how you make it at home.

MasterChef at Home: Christina Batista’s mussels and chorizo

Cook time: 20 minutes

What you’ll need:

• 2kg Mussels
• 2 chorizo, diced
• 1 cup of white wine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• Half bunch of flat leaf parsley – finely chop the stalks, and roughly chop the leaves
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• Half tablespoon of dried chilli flakes
• Pinch of salt
• Half lemon
• Crunchy bread to serve

Equipment

• Large deep fry pan with lid
• Wooden Spoon
• Chopping Board
• Knife

Directions:

1. Debeard your mussels – on the pointy part of the mussel there is ‘beard’ looking material, pull this out in an upward motion. Run these under water and if there’s any stubborn material left use a butter knife to scrape off.
2. Over a medium to high heat sauté the onion, garlic, parsley stalks and salt until the onion becomes translucent.
3. Add chorizo to pan. Cook 2-3mins.
4. Add smoked paprika and dried chilli flakes. Cook for 1 min.
5. While pan is hot, add the mussels and stir.
6. Pour in the white wine. Put on lid and cook for 3 mins.
7. Take lid off, and as the mussels open remove them one by one. This ensures non will overcook.
8. Put lid back on if there are mussels that haven’t yet opened and cook for further 3 mins. If they don’t open after this time, discard them.
9. Return all mussels to the pan.
10. Squeeze over the lemon juice and top with parsley.
11. Serve with crunchy bread.

If you want more MasterChef recipes as easy as this mussels and chorizo dish, check out Chris Tran’s pancakes and John Carasig’s fried chicken next.