Baked Mussels With Mushrooms and Bacon

Ingredients

• 1 lb mussels, approx. (16 to 18)
• 2/3 cup pilsner beer
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons finely diced shallots
• 1/4 cup finely diced smoked bacon
• 1 1/2 cups mixed mushrooms (oyster and brown cremini mushrooms)
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup grated Fontina cheese
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC).

2. 2

   Put mussels, pilsner and cream in a large pot, cover with a lid, bring to a boil and steam for 2 to 3 minutes, or until mussels have opened.

3. 3

   Remove from heat and drain, reserving cooking liquid in a bowl and discarding any mussels whose shells remain closed.

4. 4

   Strain cooking liquid through a fine sieve, place in a pan and boil for 5 minutes or until thickened. Reserve for sauce.

5. 5

   Remove mussels from shells, separate top and bottom halves of shells, discarding top halves. Reserve remaining shells and mussels separately.

6. 6

   Melt butter over high heat in a large skillet. Sauté shallots, smoked bacon and mushrooms for 3 minutes, or until bacon is cooked and vegetables are soft.

7. 7

   Combine vegetable mixture with reserved mussels, reduced cooking liquid and chopped parsley.

8. 8

   Spoon mussels and mixture into reserved mussel shells. Place in a baking dish, top with grated cheese (at this point you can refrigerate for up to 24 hours until ready to serve) and bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and mussels are warmed through.

9. 9

   Season with salt and pepper to taste.