Soupe de Moules

Ingredients:

2-1/2 lbs mussels, cleaned
3-1/2 cups dry white wine
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 leeks, chopped
generous pinch saffron threads infused in 2 Tbsp boiling water 1 cup heavy cream beurre manie I1 Tbsp softened butter mashed with 1 Tbsp flour, until smooth) julienne of vegetables (2 carrots and 1 leek cut into very fine strips, blanched in boiling water and refreshed in cold water)

Preparation:
Put the mussels in a casserole dish with the wine, over high heat, and bring to a boil. Cook until the mussels have opened, stirring frequently to ensure that they are evenly cooked; this takes only a few minutes.

Strain the cooking liquid through a fine strainer into a pitcher, leaving behind any grit. Add water to make up 3-1/2 cups of liquid.

Discard any mussels that have not opened. Remove the rest from their shells and discard the shells.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes, until softened but not browned. Reserve 20-30 mussels and add the rest to the vegetables, together with the strained cooking liquid, and simmer for 1 hour.

Blend the soup in a blender and pass it through a conical strainer into the cleaned pan. Add the saffron and cream and reheat, whisking in the beurre manie to thicken the soup. Serve hot in soup plates, with the julienne of  vegetables and 5-6 of the reserved mussels in each plate.