Rick Stein’s arroz verde (green rice with garlic, parsley and mussels)

Mussels and rice are a winning combination in this sunny dish, flavoured with parsley and garlic. “I love these Spanish paella-type dishes,” says Rick Stein. “There’s a similar, but slightly more complicated and expensive, version of this recipe in my book Long Weekends. I remember filming it at a restaurant on the beach in Cádiz. I chose the arroz verde, but the crew went for seafood paella coloured with the extremely bright yellow of fake saffron. The camera pulled away from my demure green and white bowl to reveal everybody else wearing sunglasses while eating.”

Rick Stein is a guest chef at Pub in the Park this summer – Tom Kerridge’s music festival for food lovers, which is popping up in four locations: Marlow (16-19 May), Chiswick (28-30 June), Reigate (12-14 July) and St Albans (6-8 September). Discover our all-star collection of Pub in the Park chef recipes, including dishes by Angela Hartnett, Atul Kochhar and Andi Oliver – and buy tickets direct from Pub in the Park. We’ll see you there!

Recipe taken from Rick Stein’s Simple Suppers by Rick Stein (BBC Books £28) and tested by delicious. Photograph by James Murphy.