Recipe Tiella barese - rice potatoes and mussels

MypinchofItaly

Forum GOD!
Joined
17 Feb 2017
Local time
2:56 PM
Messages
8,641
Location
Milano, Italy
Website
mypinchofitaly.co.uk
Like its name says, the tiella barese is a dish typical of Bari, a city in the Apulia region, in the extreme south of Italy. The term tiella originally indicates a pot with a lid, but with time it became the name of a variety of dishes cooked in a baking crock pan.

The simple yet delicious taste of the tiella barese is reminiscent of the Spanish domination in southern Italy: although it has fewer ingredients, the tiella is very similar to the paella, in that it combines rice and seafood and it’s cooked without stirring the rice in the pot (which would instead give you a risotto). For this reason, we can date the tiella barese back to the 16th century.

Serves: 4 | Preparation time: 20 mins | Cooking time: 50-60 mins

  • Mussels, with their shell: 1 kg
  • Potatoes, with yellow flesh: 800 g
  • Carnaroli or Arborio or Roma rice: 350 g
  • Cherry tomatoes: 200 g
  • Pecorino, grated: 180 g
  • White onions, medium-sized: 1
  • Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO): 6 tbsp
  • Parsley or thyme, fresh: about 1 sprig
  • Salt and pepper: to taste
Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Clean the mussels by rubbing the shell with a metal sponge, then put them in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and let it fry in the pan until the shells open. Once all the shells are open, separate most of the mussels from their shell; keep aside a small quantity of shells to garnish the dish. Discard all the mussels that didn’t open.

Filter and set aside the liquid released by the mussels while cooking.

Cut the onion into thin slices, and chop the tomatoes in half; sauté them together in a pan, then put them in a large bowl.

Dice the potatoes in small cubes and add them to the bowl with onion and tomatoes, along with the mussels and their liquid, the Pecorino and the rice, still raw. Season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.

Take a baking pan, preferably made of crock, and fill it with the mixture prepared in the bowl. Pour in water until it covers the content of the plate and exceeds it by two fingers; the water is needed to cook the rice and the potatoes.

Cover the mixture of ingredients with slices of potatoes and sprinkle some Pecorino and olive oil on top. Garnish with the empty mussels shells you kept on the side. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes at 180°C, then serve warm.
Tiella barese.jpg
 
Oh, this is right up my alley. Grazie, bella donna..., Signora,

I used to make a French dish of mussels and clams with overcooked cubed potatoes and herbs, but I cannot find my old recipe. I will have to try this in its place.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top Bottom