Mussel Casserole

Carefully de-beard all the mussels after a thorough scrubbing. Wash them thoroughly in several changes of water, then put them into a deep saucepan over a medium heat and steam them open. Shake the pan to encourage this. Then remove the mussels as they open up. (Throw away any that do not open after 8 or 9 minutes.) Put them into a bowl, strain the juices from the saucepan into a second bowl and leave to settle. Your objective is to end up with very little sand and sediment.

Chop 3 of the garlic cloves and fry them in the olive oil in a heavy, flameproof casserole with 1 handful of the chopped parsley for about 5 minutes. If you are using the chillies, add them, then add the passata, season with salt and pepper and stir. Strain the mussel liquor and fish stock into the pan and simmer to reduce the liquid by about half. Tip in the open mussels and raise the heat. At this point you are not cooking the mussels, simply heating everything up, this will take only 3-4 minutes.

Cut the remaining 2 garlic cloves in half and rub the bread with them. Lay the bread at the bottom of a warmed tureen or wide bowl and pour all the mussels and their liquid over it. Scatter with the remaining chopped parsley and serve.