Mussel soup, a Holy Thursday tradition

There are several variations of this dish, but they all come together in preparing an aromatic, rich dish that showcases mussels alongside other ingredients: octopus, prawns and squid, flavoured with tomatoes, garlic and parsley.

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Ingredients for 4 people

• 12 crunchy freselle (Neapolitan twice-baked bread rusks)
• 1 kg of verace octopus (a prized Mediterranean octopus variety)
• 1.5 kg of very fresh mussels
• 700 g of live maruzzielli (small Neapolitan sea snails)
• 200 g ripe cherry tomatoes
• half a tablespoon of tomato paste
• 20 cl of extra virgin olive oil
• chilli-infused red oil (not too spicy)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Chopped parsley

Prepare the octopus and boil it in a pot with plenty of water for about 50/60 minutes, then let it cool and cut its tentacles without breaking them.
IMPORTANT: remember to keep the stock obtained from cooking the octopus. Clean the mussels thoroughly, rinse the maruzzielli, chop the parsley and cut the cherry tomatoes into small pieces, also crushing the two cloves of garlic.

In a pot, add 10 cl of oil and 1 clove of garlic, let it brown lightly and then add the chopped cherry tomatoes. Cook everything over high heat for about 3/4 minutes, then add half a tablespoon of tomato paste.

Add the octopus tentacles and the maruzzielli, letting them cook for another 6/7 minutes with the pot covered, adding 3 ladles of hot octopus stock.From time to time, check and gently stir with a wooden spoon.Meanwhile, in a pan, sauté the other clove of garlic with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, add the mussels and stir them, then pour in 2 ladles of hot octopus stock, being careful not to overcook them.Once the mussels have opened, take the octopus tentacles from the pot used earlier and add them to the maruzzielli in the mussel pan with their sauce.Serve everything in deep bowls, laying the fragrant freselle at the bottom and covering them with the delicious mussels, the tasty maruzzielli and the octopus tentacles.Everything will be accompanied by the fragrant sauce of this tasty soup.To add the final touch, drizzle over a little chilli-infused red oil, traditional and typical of this preparation.

The freselle

The freselle are a type of twice-baked bread, which can be ring-shaped or rectangular. They are made with durum wheat flour, brewer's yeast and water, and are baked in the oven with a double baking process.

For mussel soup with freselle, thick rectangular ones are preferably used, ready to soak up the succulent sauce of this seafood soup.