Mussel Pizza

Name: Mussel Pizza with Mozzarella, Emmental and Tomato
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Pizza dough 400 g; Mussels (shelled) 100 g; Garlic 1 clove; Parsley 2-3 sprigs; Green onion 1-2; Olive oil 2 tbsp; Mozzarella 100 g; Emmental 50 g; Tomato 1; Pitted olives 6-8; Tomato sauce 3 tbsp; Oregano to taste

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2 h

Pizza with mussels or other shellfish is easy to make, tasty, and can be complemented by a wide range of ingredients in the topping. It would be surprising if in a country like Italy, washed by many seas, there were no recipe for mussel pizza or seafood pizza.

Do not be surprised, Italy has this covered. Mussel pizza is traditionally made with mussels, garlic, olive oil and parsley. Often the recipe also includes oregano, basil, tomato and black olives. But most of the herbs typical of Italian cooking are very aromatic, and their smell easily drowns out the delicate aroma of seafood.

Mussels (Latin Mytilidae) are bivalve mollusks living in almost all seas. They are an important object of fishing and farming. I have seen a mussel “bank”, a special offshore structure where mussels grow on ropes hung from buoys.

The main difference between farmed and wild mussels is that mussels grown on ropes are “clean”, meaning they contain no grains of sand. This is very important unless you enjoy sand crunching between your teeth.

Mussels are a great ingredient for a sauce or soup. Pizza made with fresh or frozen mussels is very tasty. Good mussels for every taste are always available in stores. Cooking any dish with frozen mussels is no trouble. I described in detail how to prepare mussels properly in the article how to cook mussels, and next to it in this series, fried mussels.

12 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ingredients

34 cm pizza

Pizza dough 400 g
Mussels (shelled) 100 g
Garlic 1 clove
Parsley 2-3 sprigs
Green onion 1-2
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Mozzarella 100 g
Emmental 50 g
Tomato 1
Pitted olives 6-8
Tomato sauce 3 tbsp
Oregano to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Mussel pizza is easy and fairly quick to make. What matters is that all the ingredients are ready by the time the dough is ready to bake.
Make a yeast pizza dough following the simple recipe. After the dough rises, stretch it onto a pizza pan greased with olive oil. For a fluffier base, before adding the topping cover the dough in the pan with a towel and let it stand for up to 30 minutes in a warm place.
The mussels need a brief boil. Cover the frozen mussels with water and put them on the heat. Once the water boils, cook for 1-2 minutes. Then drain the water and rinse the mussels. It is a good idea to remove the “tuft” (the beard) inside the meat, which is tough and unappealing.
If you do not have homemade tomato sauce, scald fresh ripe tomatoes with boiling water and peel them. Simmer the chopped tomato flesh with spices and olive oil until the sauce thickens.
Cut the tomato for the topping into thin slices, leaving the seeds in. Pit the olives if they have pits, and cut them in half lengthwise. Finely chop the green part of the green onion. Grate the Emmental on a fine grater and cut the mozzarella into thin slices.
Spread tomato sauce evenly over the whole surface of the dough. Brush the rim of the dough too, because very little topping gets there, and dough with tomato is tasty on its own.
Arrange the sliced mozzarella in large patches, without trying too hard to distribute it evenly. The mozzarella will spread while the pizza bakes.
Place the boiled mussels and the sliced olives on the dough with sauce and mozzarella.
Over the topping, arrange one peeled garlic clove cut into almost transparent slices, and sprinkle with chopped green onion.
Next, arrange the thinly sliced tomato. Be sure to sprinkle with dried oregano and, if you like, sprinkle with 1 tsp of lemon juice.
Sprinkle grated Emmental over the whole surface of the mussel pizza, putting most of the cheese closer to the rim. Drizzle the pizza with olive oil.
Put the mussel pizza into an oven preheated to 190-200°C and bake for up to 20 minutes. After 15 minutes of baking, be sure to check that the dough is done. As soon as the bottom of the pizza browns well, the mussel pizza is definitely ready.
Scatter parsley leaves over the finished pizza. It looks nice and adds a subtle extra flavor.
Cut the finished mussel pizza into 6-8 slices with a rolling pizza cutter.
Mussel pizza tastes best while it is still warm. Do not reheat it. By the way, pizza goes very well with tomato juice.