After last’s week debacle with the Nutella tartine, this week’s selection for French Fridays with Dorie was a welcome change: mussels and chorizo with or without pasta.

Mussels are a long-time favorite at my house. I think they’re the easiest shellfish to prepare. No peeling, and if they don’t have a beard, they just need a quick scrubbing before they’re ready to go in the pot. Mussels are incredibly versatile. And they have a clean, fresh, oceany flavor.

Mussels can be farmed or wild. Whole Foods had wild mussels from Moosabec Mussels, located in Jonesport in Eastern Maine along a beautiful stretch of coastline between one of my favorite places on earth, Acadia National Park, and New Brunswick, Canada.

For this recipe, you start with a base of tomatoes, onions, garlic, white wine, and herbs (I used rosemary). Sliced chorizo gets added to the pot, to add a little bit of spice. The mussels go into the pot for a short steam, 3 to 5 minutes, and after which they pop open, begging to be eaten.

How to serve the cooked mussels? The name of the recipe offers two different options, with or without pasta. For Dinner #1, I served big bowls of mussels with warmed crusty bread to sop up the juices. The two of us ate about half the mussels for that first dinner. With the leftovers, my dear sous-chef/husband plucked the mussels out of their shells and stirred them into the tomato base left in the pot. For Dinner #2 (and Lunch #3), I cooked a box of linguine and tossed with the mussels in sauce.

Both ways were equally delicious. It would be hard to choose a favorite between them. This was a winner no matter how you look at it.

To see the other FFwD bloggers’ experience with this delicious recipe, check out their links here. As for the recipe, we’re asked not to share the recipes, so you’ll have to get your hands on a copy of Dorie Greenspan’s book.