Tiella Barese di Riso, Patate e Cozze

Ingredients

• 1kg live mussels
• 300g Arborio or Carnaroli rice
• 600g yellow-fleshed potatoes
• 400g ripe tomatoes
• 1 white onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• Large handful of flat-leaf parsley
• 60g grated Pecorino Romano
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

Before you cook

• Scrub the mussels under cold water and pull away the beards.
• Open the mussels one by one with a short knife over a bowl, keeping the meat on the half shell and saving every drop of liquid.
• Strain the mussel liquid through muslin and set it aside.
• Peel the potatoes and slice them 4mm thick.
• Slice the onion thinly and cut the tomatoes into rounds.
• Chop the garlic and parsley together on a board.

Steps

1. Pour 2 tablespoons of the oil over the base of a wide 30cm baking dish.
2. Scatter the sliced onion evenly across the bottom.
3. Lay down a single layer of potato slices, overlapping them slightly.
4. Season the potatoes with salt, pepper, a third of the garlic and parsley and a third of the pecorino.
5. Cover them with a layer of tomato slices.
6. Arrange the mussels on their half shells over the tomatoes, cupped side up.
7. Tip the raw rice over the mussels and spread it so each shell is just covered.
8. Season the rice with another third of the garlic, parsley and pecorino.
9. Lay the remaining potato slices over the rice in a neat overlapping layer.
10. Scatter over the last of the tomatoes, garlic, parsley and pecorino.
11. Measure the strained mussel liquid and top it up with water to make 700ml.
12. Season that liquid lightly with salt and pour it down the side of the dish until it just reaches the top potato layer.
13. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the surface.
14. Heat the oven to 190C.
15. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake it for 35 minutes.
16. Take the foil off and bake for a further 30 minutes, until the top potatoes are browned and the rice is tender.
17. Rest the tiella for 30 minutes before serving, so the layers settle and can be lifted out whole.