Mussels, Pork & Leek in Parsley White Wine Cream Sauce

This is something I put together for brunch the day after Christmas. We had leftovers left right and center. The mussels were originally purchased for consumption as part of the Christmas dinner, but about 3/4 way through the cooking we decided to 'save it for later' because we already had too much food on the table. I used the off pieces from my pork belly confit mostly because it took me 26 hours to make the confit and I didn't want to throw any bits of it away. :)

This can be substituted with leftover pork roast, ham, turkey or even just slices of good ol' bacon.

Mussels with Pork and Leek in Parsley White Wine Cream Sauce
serves 4

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cloves garlic (mashed then chopped roughly)
• 2 anchovy fillets
  
• 1 leek (sliced thinly)
• 1 bay leaf
  
• left over pork belly confit (roughly chopped ...substitute with bacon)
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 150ml thicken cream
• 1 kg live black mussels (scrubbed, debearded)
• 1/2 cup of parsley leaves (roughly chopped)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• lemon wedges to serve
  

Heat olive oil in a deep saucepan then melt the butter in the oil. Add garlic, anchovy fillets and when everything starts to sizzle and melt, add the leek, bay leaf and the leftover pork belly confit (or bacon) to the saucepan. Saute until the leeks start to soften. Season with a couple of grinds of black pepper. Pour in the white wine and let it simmer for about 3 mins to boil off the alcohol and to reduce the liquid then add in the thickened cream.

Pour in the washed mussels. Turn the heat up high and keep stirring the contents in the pan around until the mussels start to open.

Once the mussels start to open, add in the chopped parsley (reserve about a tablespoon for garnish) and stir the contents around until the mussels are coated with the cream sauce. Serve immediately and garish with the remaining chopped parsley leaves and lemon wedges.

Notes:

• The anchovy fillets will provide the saltiness to the dish. Taste and season with a bit more salt if required.
  
• Toast up some garlic bread to soak up the cream sauce. Or use the leftover cream sauce to toss in some hot pasta for a quick meal.