6 to 8 servings

This lovely soup may just become a favorite of yours, perhaps even more so than clam chowder itself!

Ingredients Needed for Mussel Chowder Recipe:

• 5 pounds mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
• 1 cup plus additional water
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 slices Canadian bacon, finely diced
• 1 ½ cups chopped onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup chopped sweet green pepper
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 1 pound boiling potatoes peeled and cut into ½ – inch cubes
• 1 28 – ounce can plum tomatoes, drained, with their juice reserved, and chopped
• Salt to taste (optional)
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Hot pepper sauce to taste (optional)

Preparation:

1. In a large kettle, steam your  mussels in a cup of water, over medium high heat for about five minutes or until the shells have opened. Then take the mussels out  and discard all of the mussels that have not opened. Save the liquid that the mussels were steamed in. Remove the mussels from the shells , and cut any remaining beards. Cover and set it aside.

2. Strain the liquid that the mussels were cooked in through cheesecloth, if necessary, add enough water to the liquid to make four cups of the liquid. Then set this cup aside.

3. Heat olive oil in the kettle. Then add the bacon, the onion, the bay leaf, and then saute these ingredints until the onion has become soft.

4. Add in the green pepper  and the celery and cook it for two minutes longer.

5. Then add in the potatoes and the tomatoes with the juice,  and the saved mussel liquid, the mussels, the salt, and the pepper. Then bring this all to a boil. Afterwords, reduce the heat and cover. Let the stew simmer for about half an hour, until the potatoes are tender. Then throw away the bay leaf and season the chowder to your preference with the hot pepper sauce. You are now ready to serve.