The arraganate musselsare a specialty of the Apulian cuisine. They are characterized by a tasty filling based on stale bread crumbs, or breadcrumbs, to which spices and aromatic herbs are added to flavor it. They are ideal to serve as starter to open one fish dinner or as a fanciful one second seafood dish.
Ingrediants
- 2 kg of mussels
- 150 g of bread crumbs
- ½ glass of white wine
- 1 sprig of parsley
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
- 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce
- 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
How to prepare: Arraganate mussels
The arraganate mussels, or au gratin, are a specialty of the coastal areas of Puglia, in particular the areas of Bari and Taranto.
There are several variations of this dish: some involve the addition of Lemon peel and of cheese to the filling, others are simpler and white. As for the mussels au gratin, the recipe for arraganate mussels it can be easily customized by adding or replacing some ingredients. Here we offer them with a tasty filling made with breadcrumbs, tomato puree, garlic, parsley and oregano.
As for peppered mussels or marinara mussels, it is essential to clean the molluscs well, because they will be served with the shell. If you haven’t already bought them clean, tear off the byssus and, under running water, scrape off all the impurities on the shell with a metal sponge.
For a typically Apulian menu, serve the arraganate mussels as starter before the tiella of potatoes, rice and mussels, another great classic of this region, which still sees mussels as protagonists.
OTHER TASTY RECIPES: Chickpea and mussel salad, Fried mussels
- Execution
- easy
- Preparation time
- 45 min
- Cooking time
-
15 min
- Portions
-
4 – 6
- Total time
-
60 min
How to prepare: Arraganate mussels


To prepare the arraganate mussels, first clean the mussels thoroughly, then open them, remove the part of the shell without the mollusk and place the other part in a pan. Crumble the breadcrumbs in a bowl, finely chop the parsley.


Add the parsley to the breadcrumbs, add the minced garlic clove, oregano, tomato puree, season with salt and pepper and mix everything well. Spread the mixture on the mussels in the pan, then sprinkle with oil.


Bake in a preheated oven at 200 ° C for 10-15 minutes, sprinkling with the wine halfway through cooking. When the breading is lightly browned, take the arraganate mussels out of the oven and serve them immediately.
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