Baked mussels make an excellent appetizer at any parties and gatherings. Plain, spicy, or breaded, I always find them very delicious and kind of addicting.
Mussels (tahong in Tagalog) are low-fat seafood that are excellent source of protein, iron, and other essential minerals such as vitamin B-12. You can cook them many different ways, but I prefer baking them or making mussel soup.
When I moved to the US some years ago, I used to buy fresh mussels a lot. But when I discovered the frozen half-shell green lip mussels from New Zealand, I buy it more often for their sweet, tender, plump, and juicy meat that are much bigger in size which makes them perfect for baking or grilling.
I learned that mussel meat differs in color according to sex; orange for females and cream in color for males. Interesting discovery, really!
For this easy and simple baked mussel recipe, I am using the half-shell green mussels I mentioned above. You can find them at the frozen section of your grocery store. Make sure to thaw them first in the refrigerator before cooking.
If you prefer to use fresh ones, just cook them up first in a pot with water 3-5 minutes on medium heat just enough for the shells to open. Drain and remove the top-shell and discard the rest.
You will need about 40 half-shells for this recipe. If you have less, please adjust the ingredients and seasonings accordingly.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 20 minutes
Yields: 38-40 mussels
Ingredients:
2 lbs half-shell mussels
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup Panko (Japanese style) bread crumbs
6 cloves garlic
½ cup mozzarella cheese
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
Things You’ll Need:
Knife
Cutting board
Sauce pan
2 small mixing bowls
Basting brush
Cooking spoon
Baking sheet
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 250ºF.
2. Grate ½ cup of cheese and mix with ½ cup Panko bread crumbs. Mix together and set aside.
3. Slice butter to melt them fast. (optional step)
4. Peel and mince garlic. You can use a food chopper if you want them chopped very fine.
5. Heat up a sauce pan over low heat. Melt the butter and add minced garlic and 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes. Cook for about 3 minutes.
6. Transfer melted butter onto a mixing bowl. Set aside.
7. Arrange half-shell mussels in a single layer on a baking sheet.
8. Brush mussels with the melted garlic-butter-parsley mixture one at a time.
9. Sprinkle with cheese-bread crumb mixture on top.
10. Bake for 20 minutes.
11. Remove from oven, allow to cool, then serve.
- 2 lbs half-shell mussels
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- ½ cup Panko (Japanese style) bread crumbs
- 6 cloves garlic
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
- Preheat oven to 250ºF.
- Grate ½ cup of cheese and mix with ½ cup Panko bread crumbs. Mix together and set aside.
- Slice butter to melt them fast. (optional step)
- Peel and mince garlic. You can use a food chopper if you want them chopped very fine.
- Heat up a sauce pan over low heat. Melt the butter and add minced garlic and 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes. Cook for about 3 minutes.
- Transfer melted butter onto a mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Arrange half-shell mussels in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Brush mussels with the melted garlic-butter-parsley mixture one at a time.
- Sprinkle with cheese-bread crumb mixture on top.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool, then serve.
