appetizer or main course

I mentioned in my previous post that had my daughter and son-in-law not left early on July 4th, I already had a dinner in mind. However, I was left with a dilemma as to what to make for my husband and I. Off to Wegmans I went and I picked up a bag of fresh mussels (2 lbs. for $6.99) and a jar of their smooth marinara sauce.

I must admit, this was the lazy man's out, however, in the past when I have done this it was great. However, it's all about the sauce. Before their demise, A&P use to sell jar tomato sauce made with New Jersey tomatoes that was seasoned just right. However, now that they are gone, I tried Wegmans sauce. It was too thick and lacked the type of seasoning I would prefer on mussels, a touch of spice. I was going to use my homemade fresh tomato sauce, but I thought it would have been too thin, but in hindsight, I should have gone with my gut on this one.

The preparation for this couldn't have been easier. Place a bag of mussels in a 10-12"diameter shallow sauté  pan, pour tomato sauce over it, cover and simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until the mussels open. Perhaps the next time I might try one of Lidia's recipes, Mussel Brodetto, which has a cooking time of just 10 minutes.