Tiella pugliese (Puglian-Style Potato and Mussel Casserole)
Ingredients
For the first layer:
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 2-3 waxy potatoes sliced
- 1-2 garlic cloves finely minced
- A few sprigs of fresh parsley finely minced
- Grated pecorino cheese q.b.
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
For the second layer:
- 1 bag of fresh mussels steamed and half-shelled (see Notes)
- Olive oil
For the third layer:
- A handful of arborio rice
- 2-3 canned tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1-2 garlic cloves finely minced
- A few sprigs of fresh parsley finely minced
- Grated pecorino cheese q.b.
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
For the final layer:
- 2-3 waxy potatoes sliced
Instructions
- You begin by laying down thinly sliced onion, dressed with olive oil, on the bottom of a casserole dish. Over the onions lay slices of waxy potatoes, chopped parsley and garlic, and diced tomato, season generously with salt and pepper, sprinkle over grated pecorino cheese and drizzle with olive oil:
- Next place down a layer of mussels on the half shell (see Notes below), season again and drizzle a bit of olive oil over each bit of mussel.
- Then cover with Arborio rice, topping the rice with some more chopped garlic and parsley, chopped tomato, grated pecorino, season again and drizzle over some more olive oil.
- Place a final layer of potatoes (which you may wish to arrange in a neat pattern for presentation at the table) then, if you like, season as you have the other layers. (Some recipes call for leaving this layer plain, for a neater presentation.) Pour in the juices of the mussels and enough simmering water (or, for more flavor, fish stock or clam juice) to just cover the potatoes.
- Bring the casserole to a simmer on top of the stove and then place in a medium oven (180C, 350F) for 45 minutes to an hour, until the top is nicely brown, the rice is done and all the water absorbed but the casserole is still moist.
Notes
To make a tiella, you traditionally use mussels 'on the half shell'. Before adding to the casserole, the mussels need to be opened, either by shucking them raw (which I personally find rather tricky) or by very briefly steaming them with a bit of water in a covered pot, and then removing the half of the shell that is not attached to the mussel meat. Although not traditional, for the sake of convenience, you can also simply buy shucked mussels and use them, without their shells. As always, smaller mussels will provide sweeter flavor and finer texture than larger ones. Wild mussels need to be soaked and trimmed but most mussels these days are raised in 'farms' and come ready to use.