It’s unthinkable to go to the Cinque Terre area and not eat the typical stuffed mussels of La Spezia… so on May 11, 2019, in Monterosso al Mare, during our trip, at the restaurant “Il Casello“, we lunched on one of the best traditional recipes of the eastern Liguria region (specifically from La Spezia) that can exist.
A laborious recipe, but undoubtedly excellent!
In Tuscany, there is a “viareggina” and a “livornese” variant. The livornese recipe does not include the use of celery, onion, carrot, and white wine to cook the mussels.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs mussels from La Spezia
- 2 Eggs
- 1.76 oz Mortadella (in a single slice)
- as needed bread crumbs
- 1 cup Milk
- 1.06 oz Parmigiano Reggiano DOP
- 1 clove Garlic
- as needed thyme, marjoram
- as needed salt and pepper
- 10.58 oz Tomato purée
- 1 clove Garlic
- as needed White wine
- as needed Parsley
- as needed salt and black pepper
- as needed Extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
To prepare mussels à la spezzina, first, you need to clean the mussels well: rinse them under running water and scrape them one by one with a knife to remove all the incrustations and the beard from the shell.
Once you have cleaned all the mussels well, heat a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a pan, place the mussels inside the pan, cover with a lid and let them open.
While the mussels are opening, prepare the stuffing: finely chop the slice of mortadella and transfer the mortadella mince into a bowl, then soak the bread crumbs in a bowl with milk.
In a bowl, prepare the filling by combining 10 mussels, chopped garlic, and herbs, then the milk-soaked and squeezed bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, eggs, and mortadella. Mix well. Add some pepper and adjust the saltiness.
Take the mussels and with the help of a knife, separate them without cutting the nerve that holds them together, but by slightly twisting them so that they remain attached at the base. Put a small portion of the filling inside the shell and close by recomposing the mussel. (Otherwise, they can be tied with white thread, taking care to remove it before serving).
In a saucepan, sauté chopped parsley and garlic with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with white wine and add the tomatoes, slightly season the tomato purée with a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper.
Arrange the mussels in a single layer in the pot containing the sauce. The sauce should cover them, if not sufficient, add a little reserved liquid.
Cook for about half an hour and serve hot.
Notes
The mussels, commonly also called mussels or peoci or móscili in Italian, depending on the region of origin, are bivalve mollusks cultivated in the Gulf of Poets, very versatile in culinary preparations.
The mussels, commonly also called mussels or peoci or móscili in Italian, depending on the region of origin, are bivalve mollusks cultivated in the Gulf of Poets, very versatile in culinary preparations.
Find a travel itinerary to the Cinque Terre on our partner’s website FoodTripGo.
Find a travel itinerary to the Cinque Terre on our partner’s website FoodTripGo.
