This dish is incredibly quick, very common in Tuscany and throughout Italy. It is a lovely and tasty starter for any kind of mains to follow. If you make a ton of it and chips this is also a great main course.
Ingredients (an aboundant starter for 2):
1 kg very fresh mussels, or as many as you can fit in your largest pot allowing the room to close the lid
4 medium garlic cloves
Chopped chili flakes
40 gr extra-virgin olive oil
Two tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley (not optional!)
Method:
Prep the mussels (it takes 20 mins or so): put them all in the kitchen sink and cover abundantly with cold water
Take out the filaments from each of them (you will have to pull a little)
Rinse each mussel well (use a scratchy dish pad, or a nail brush to clean them)
Put the mussels in a colander and give them a final shower with cold water. At this point discard any mussel that is open (most should have closed under the final shower)
Put your garlic (chopped, not minced) and the chilli flakes in the oil on a medium heat until it reaches a good yellow colour (not brown). Add immediately the mussels, the wine and the parsley, stir well and close the lid
Time it to 5 minutes (stir once after 3 mins)
The mussels should have all opened and the flesh showing a light yellow/orange colour. If they don't look like the picture above leave for a further 2 mins. Discard the couple of mussels that did not open before serving