Tiella barese – baked rice, potatoes and mussels

Name: Tiella barese – baked rice, potatoes and mussels
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 200 g dry Carnaroli rice; 600 g raw potatoes, weighed after peeling; 1 kg fresh live mussels in their shells, weight including shells before cleaning; 400 g fresh tomatoes with their skin, seeds and all their juice; 100 g peeled onion; 60 g extra-virgin olive oil: 10 g to open the mussels, 20 g for the bottom, 10 g between layers and 20 g for the top; 40 g grated pecorino romano: 20 g between layers and 20 g for the top; 8 g peeled garlic cloves; 15 g fresh parsley leaves; 500 g water: 50 g to open the mussels and up to 450 g hot water for baking; up to 3 g salt, only if needed; 0.5 g freshly ground black pepper

Average rating

0.0

0 ratings

Prep

45 min

Cooking

1 h 20 min

Waiting

15 min

Total

2 h 20 min

Recipheon

Tiella barese – baked rice, potatoes and mussels

Author: Recipheon

Content prepared with AI assistance - Recipe reviewed by Recipheon

Servings: 4
Prep: 45 min
Cooking: 1 h 20 min
Waiting: 15 min
Total: 2 h 20 min

Source: https://recipheon.com/en/recipes/main-dishes/tiella-barese-baked-rice-potatoes-and-mussels

About this recipe

Tiella barese is an Apulian bake made by layering rice, potatoes and mussels with tomatoes, onion, garlic and parsley. The uncooked rice absorbs the flavor of the mussels and vegetables as it bakes, while the thin potato slices soften under a cover before the top browns. In this home version, the mussels are first opened in a pot and their clear liquid kept for the bake. The meat stays on one half of each shell. Olive oil and pecorino give the layers a distinctive flavor, so salt is added sparingly. The dish needs a short rest after baking so that the rice absorbs the remaining liquid and the portions are easier to serve.

Ingredients

Servings

Base: 4

For 4 servings

200 g dry Carnaroli rice
600 g raw potatoes, weighed after peeling
1 kg fresh live mussels in their shells, weight including shells before cleaning
400 g fresh tomatoes with their skin, seeds and all their juice
100 g peeled onion
60 g extra-virgin olive oil: 10 g to open the mussels, 20 g for the bottom, 10 g between layers and 20 g for the top
40 g grated pecorino romano: 20 g between layers and 20 g for the top
8 g peeled garlic cloves
15 g fresh parsley leaves
500 g water: 50 g to open the mussels and up to 450 g hot water for baking
up to 3 g salt, only if needed
0.5 g freshly ground black pepper

Steps

Scrub the mussels under cold running water and remove their beards. Discard any with cracked shells and open ones that do not close after a light tap. The ingredient weight includes the shells; it is not a kilogram of mussel meat alone.
Heat 10 g olive oil in a large pot, add the mussels and 50 g water, then cover. Once there is plenty of steam, cook for about 5 minutes, shaking the pot several times. After cooking, discard mussels that remain closed. Take the pot off the heat and keep the liquid.
Remove the empty half of each open mussel shell, leaving the meat on the other half. Transfer to a shallow dish, cover and refrigerate while you prepare the vegetables. Strain all the clear liquid from the pot through a fine sieve lined with clean cheesecloth or a thin cloth. Leave sand and sediment out of the dish; do not press the sediment through the cloth.
AI-generated
Heat the oven to 200°C with conventional top and bottom heat. Prepare a round ovenproof dish about 30 cm in diameter and at least 6 cm deep. Slice the potatoes about 2–3 mm thick, thinly slice the onion and finely chop the tomatoes, keeping all their juice. Chop the garlic and parsley together. Heat the remaining weighed portion of water.
Coat the bottom of the dish with 20 g olive oil. Spread over half the onion, half the tomatoes with their juice and half the garlic and parsley. Cover with half the potatoes. Place all the mussels on top, shells down and meat up. Scatter all the uncooked rice over them in as even and thin a layer as possible. Do not cook the rice beforehand.
AI-generated
Spread the remaining onion, tomatoes with all their juice, and garlic and parsley over the rice. Add 20 g pecorino and 10 g olive oil. Distribute the pepper among these layers. Arrange the remaining potatoes on top, slightly overlapping, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and pour over the remaining 20 g olive oil.
Pour all the filtered mussel liquid down the side of the dish. Then gradually add the prepared hot water only up to the level of the top potato layer, so the rice beneath it is in liquid. You do not need to use all the water. Use only as much salt as needed, remembering that mussels and pecorino are salty. Cover tightly with an ovenproof lid or aluminum foil and bake for about 45–50 minutes. Keep the remaining hot water in case more is needed.
Remove the cover and bake for about 15 minutes more, until the top is golden. Before finishing, check that the rice is tender and a fork passes easily through the potatoes. If the rice is still hard and liquid is running low, add as much of the remaining hot water as needed down the side, cover again and bake for another 5–10 minutes or until tender. Leave unused water and salt out of the dish.
AI-generated
Take the dish out of the oven and leave for about 15 minutes. Divide into four servings, scooping rice, potatoes, mussels and vegetables through the full depth of the layers. Serve warm with the sauce and juices left in the dish.