Ingredients

• 150g unsalted butter, at room temperature, chopped
• 1 bunch basil, leaves picked

• 20ml olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 1 small carrot, cut into small dice
• 4 eschalots, cut into small dice
• 1 stick celery, cut into small dice
• 1 small zucchini, cut into small dice
• 1kg black mussels, well washed, drained, bearded
• 200ml dry white wine
• 125ml thickened cream
• 1 lemon, halved

• 20ml olive oil
• 4x160g blue-eye trevalla fillets, pin-boned, skin on, then scored
• 20g butter
• 3 sprigs thyme

Add to Shopping List

Method

1. For the basil butter, blend the butter with salt and pepper in a small food processor or stick blender until the mixture is creamy. Add basil and blend until green and smooth. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a week or so, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

2. For black mussels, heat olive oil in a wide-based saucepan over high heat, then add the garlic, thyme, carrot, eschalots, celery and zucchini and cook for 3 minutes or until tender. Add the mussels and wine to the pan and cover with a lid. When the mussels start to open, remove the pan from the heat. Strain through a colander set over a large bowl. Reserve both the cooking liquid and the mussels and vegetables.

3. Return liquid to pan, add the cream to the pan and stir through. Add 5-6 mussels in the shell and the remaining mussel meat. Add vegetables back in with dollops of the basil butter, shaking the pan until the butter has melted and emulsified with the soup, add a squeeze of lemon.

4. For blue eye trevalla, heat a large heavy-based non-stick frying pan over medium heat, then add olive oil, season fish with salt and cook skin-side down, for 4-5 minutes. When the skin is crisp, turn the fish over and cook over low heat for a further 2 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and set aside to rest. Just before serving return fish to frying pan over medium heat and add butter and thyme. Baste fish with melted thyme butter.

5. Spoon the mussel soup into 4 bowls and place a piece of blue-eye in each bowl, then serve.