Muscoli Ripieni

At the start of the 19th century, the people of La Spezia started farming mussels. It’s this cultural heritage that perhaps motivates the locals to call them 'muscoli' rather than 'cozze' like the rest of Italy.

The co-operative is still strong, looking out east of the La Spezia port into the Bay of Poets, you can see the iron poles that string up the mussels and the Muscolai potting about in their boats, harvesting and tending. Isn’t it funny that many Italians express horror at eating a seafood marinara with parmesan (I often share the sentiment), yet here is a traditional recipe, where there is little room for deviation, combining the sea and cheese. And the kicker? Any leftover sauce is wonderful tossed through pasta.

Muscoli Ripieni - La Specia Stuffed Mussels

Ingredients

1 kg large greenshell mussels, scrubbed and cleaned 

35 g (/3 cup) dry breadcrumbs

80 ml (1/3cup) whole milk

1 egg, whisked

50 g mortadella, finely diced

30 g (¼ cup) parmesan, grated

100 g (1/3 cup) ricotta

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tablespoons flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

100 ml (1/3 cup) white wine

400 g tinned tomatoes

salt and pepper, to season

bread, to serve

Method

Discard any broken mussels, or open ones that don’t close when tapped on the bench. Rinse remaining mussels well. Fill a deep pot with 3 cm water and one-third of the mussels. Place over a medium heat, cover with a lid and steam until the mussels pop open. Remove the mussels, reserving the cooking water. Discard any unopened mussels. Remove the meat from the shells, reserving the shells, and finely chop.

Combine breadcrumbs with milk in a bowl and set aside to swell for a few minutes. In a large bowl, combine the egg, mortadella, parmesan, ricotta, garlic, half the parsley, the soaked breadcrumbs and salt and pepper. Add the chopped mussels, combine well and season to taste. Pry open each mussel with a knife at the hinge base of the mussel and stuff with the mixture.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or pot over medium heat, add the onion and cook for 8–10 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the wine, reserved cooking water, tomatoes and the stuffed mussels. Cover with a lid and simmer over a low heat for 25 minutes. If the mixture looks like it is drying out, add a little water. Sprinkle with remaining parsley and serve with bread, along with a glass of white wine.