Mussel

Rasam, as prepared in most homes in Southern India, uses either tamarind or tomatoes as the base. It is a piquant broth poured over steaming hot rice. In our home—both in Kerala and America—rasam was a staple part of everyday meals. One night when I was a teenager, I was out to dinner with my brother Tom in New York City’s Little Italy and ate mussels cooked in a light tomato broth very reminiscent of rasam. I couldn’t wait to get home, buy fresh mussels, and cook them in rasam. This dish has made its rounds in my kitchens for close to three decades now. Make sure to have some fresh crusty bread to soak up the tomato-mussel broth.

Mussels steam in the same saucepan as chili-and-fennel-spiced tomato sauce in this effortless supper.

These mussels get their depth of flavor from store-bought pesto—a great convenience product available at most grocery stores.

De Laurentiis uses Peroni, an Italian beer, for this 20-minute dish, but any light-bodied lager will work and make a perfect drink pairing as well.

This classic Spanish dish comes together in a snap when cooked on a baking sheet.

With a mega-flame and a gargantuan pot, you can cook an ocean's worth of seafood in a fraction of the time it would take on the stovetop—without stepping foot in a steamy kitchen.

Don't Move a Mussel—Seriously—this one-pot dinner is that easy. Sweet cherry tomatoes, earthy chorizo, and a splash of wine do the heavy lifting.

You can also make this dish with littleneck or cherrystone clams instead of mussels.

Okay, so maybe you don't live across the street from a blooming locust tree—you can still make a killer butter sauce.

In every good restaurant kitchen, there's a combination of thrift and innovation. We always have a dish like this chowder on the menu because when we portion fish for main courses, there are inevitably some pieces of our excellent, sushi-quality fish too small to serve on their own. And that is another great reason to buy your fish whole: not only can you save the bones and head for fish stock, but you'll be generating two meals from one shopping trip. We call it chowder to give the idea of a hearty, chunky fish soup (sea bass, shrimp, mussels) with a lot of texture from vegetables. Our version shows off kabocha squash and ají dulce peppers. These are specific varieties of squash and pepper that I search for at the Greenmarket for their deep flavor and beautiful aroma. If you can't find these, use another variety of squash and mild pepper.

Just as easy and fun to cook as they are to eat, mussels deserve a spot in your weeknight dinner rotation.

This stew uses bottled clam juice, a smart shortcut to a robust broth.

For a simple but elegant winter holiday meal, look no further than this Italian classic.

Mussels, halibut and shrimp flavored with chicken broth and white wine makes an outstanding fish soup that’s ready from the start in 30 minutes.