(for two as a main course, four as a starter)

2 kg (4 lbs) Mussels
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic
500g (1 lb) Ripe Tomatoes
1 Tin Chopped plum Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon White Wine vinegar
Pinch Sugar
Black Pepper

Scrub the mussels and beard them.
(Always do this just before you cook them as they will die and spoil once bearded)
(to beard just with your thumb and a knife cut the fibres which are hanging out of the shell, it takes just a second to do each one once you get used to it.
Don’t run these beards down the sink as they will block your drain)

Bring a pot of water to the boil, throw in the tomatoes, take off the heat and pour in cold running water until these are cool then discard the water and peel.
Chop these roughly.
Peel and chop the cloves of garlic.
Reserve half and fry the other half in the olive oil until transparent.
Add the chopped fresh tomatoes and the tinned tomatoes, the vinegar, sugar and black pepper and boil fast for about ten minutes.

Put the mussels into a large lidded pan with a half cup of water.
Put on the lid and put on a high heat.
Shake and stir the mussels in the pan for a few minutes until all the mussels have opened.
Line a large sieve or colander with a cloth and strain the mussels through this, keeping the mussel liquor.
Remove the top shell from the mussels and put them somewhere warm in their bottom shells.
Add the mussel juice to the tomatos in the pan, add in the remaining garlic and boil for another five minutes
Put the mussels out into soup bowls and spoon over the sauce.
Serve with spoons and plenty of bread to soak up the juices.