Baked Mussels with Crisped Bread Crumbs
Giovanni Ardizzoni, the owner of Letojanni's Da Nino restaurant, said the secret to their baked mussels is moisture-absorbing pan carré, or crisped crumbs, a denser Italian sandwich bread. You can use these same seasoned bread crumbs for baked stuffed clams or baked oysters. Mussels are space hogs, filling your sauté pan while leaving behind a delectable essence—be sure to spoon it all back into the crumbs.
Ingredients
- 1 cup bread crumbs (See FAQ above), day-old white bread
- 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 pounds small mussels, (about 4 dozen), scrubbed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Adjust the oven rack to the top position.
- In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs, parsley, and garlic. Season with salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons olive oil and mix until the bread crumbs are thoroughly moistened.
- Dump the mussels in a large skillet. Cover the skillet and place it over high heat, shaking often, until the mussels start to open. As the mussels open, move them to a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet. (Because the mussels will be baked, they need to be heated just long enough to force the shells open.) Snap off the top shells and arrange the mussels so they support each other evenly rather than tilt to one side.
- Drizzle any cooking liquid from the pan over the mussels and into the shells. Spoon the seasoned bread crumbs over the mussels, packing them gently into the shells with the back of the spoon. Drizzle the mussels with a little more olive oil.
- Bake the mussels just until the bread crumbs brown, about 10 minutes. Serve the mussels warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 244kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 662mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g