One of the most classic French seafood dishes is Moules Mariniere. It is cheap, delicious, and extremely easy to make. Moules au Roquefort is essentially the same thing, with the addition of some creamy blue cheese for a kick. In English it’s just Mussels in Roquefort Sauce, but I think the French name sounds better, don’t you?
From start to finish this dish takes less than 15 minutes, which makes it a perfect starter to serve to guests. It is impressive, but actually very easy to make. This recipe will turn out perfectly every time, so if you are looking for the best mussels in roquefort sauce then I think mine is the best.
Along with the mussels I also like to serve some thick sliced bread that has been pan fried in a little basil infused olive oil. You won’t regret making this because sopping up the blue cheese sauce at the end is one of my favorite things about this dish.
Lastly, you have to pick the right wine. Traditionally moules mariniere is made with a dry white wine, so I’d stick with tradition with this. As the only difference between this moules au roquefort and moules mariniere (not marinara) is the addition of blue cheese, I want to keep it as traditional as possible.
The base of the dish is shallot sauteed in butter, along with parsley, celery leaves and smashed garlic. You can also make a bouquet garni of the celery stalk, rosemary, and thyme. I add that in right before I add the mussels. Of course, a singular bay leaf for good measure. Saute the shallot and herbs for about 5 minutes on medium high heat.
Once the shallot and herbs are fragrant add in the mussels. I use a kilo of black mussels when I make this, but you can also use green mussels which are a bit larger and sweeter. Then pour in about half a bottle of wine. I found this one at my local grocery and bought it because of the name. It actually isn’t half bad and I drank the other half with my meal.
Mix everything up to spread out the liquid. Move things around for a minute while keeping the heat on high. Some mussels may open up early, but that’s not an issue. Then turn the heat down low and put a lid on. Do not open for 5 minutes.
Then I use a slotted ladle to remove all of the mussels from the sauce. The sauce takes a little bit longer to finish and we don’t want to overcook the mussels. After the mussels are removed turn the heat back to medium, add a little bit of heavy cream and let reduce just slightly. If you stop here you have your basic moules mariniere, but of course I have one more addition.
I use Papillon, which is my favorite roquefort brand that is accessible. It is a type of blue cheese, but it is so much more distinct in my opinion. I only use 100 grams, and stir the sauce as it melts into the liquid. The roquefort sauce is not thick, but if you want it thicker you can just reduce some more. I think with mussels au roquefort a thin sauce is better because the bread will soak up the liquid more easily.
Moules au Roquefort (Mussels In Roquefort Sauce)
Equipment
- Pot
Ingredients
- 1 kg Mussels rinsed and scrubbed
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 Shallot finely chopped
- 5 cloves Garlic smashed
- 300 ml Dry White Wine something cheap, but drinkable
- 1/2 cup Parsley roughly chopped
- 1 stalk Celery roughly chopped leaves, use stalk for bouquet garni
- 2 sprigs Thyme
- 1 sprig Rosemary plucked
- 60 ml Heavy Cream optional
- 100 grams Roquefort if you can't find it you can use a regular blue cheese
- 2 tsp Black Pepper optional
Instructions
- In a pot on medium high heat add the butter, shallot, smashed garlic, celery leaves, and plucked rosemary. Saute everything for a few minutes. Toss in the thyme sprig, rosemary sprig, and celery stalk all tied together with butchers twine. Let saute for another minute stirring constantly.
- Put on high heat and toss in all the mussels and the white wine. Give everything a good mix, and when the wine starts to boil (after about 1 minute) put on the lid and turn the heat down low. Do not open for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes take off the lid and use a slotted spoon/ladle/spider to remove all the mussels into another bowl. Turn the heat of the pot back up, add the heavy cream, and the roquefort blue cheese. You can also add black pepper here if you wish. Stir until everything is reduced just slightly. While you are doing this you can pan sear some thick sliced bread in olive oil.
- Pour the sauce over the mussels in either the main bowl or on peoples individual bowls. Serve with the bread and of course a glass of wine.
