Coquille San Nicola ;)

This is a recipe I invented a few years ago. I call it Coquilles San Nicola because I use mussels and salmon instead of scallops. Mussels are synonymous with Bari and San Nicola is the patron saint…..hence my inspiration for the name 🙂

• 1kg mussels (cooked following the recipe for Impepata di cozze)
• 200gr salmon
• 50gr butter
• 50gr flour
• 500gr stock from the ‘Impepata’ mixed with a little milk
• 300gr potatoes (peeled weight)
• parsley
• extravirgin olive oil
• grated pecorino or parmigiano

Cook the mussels following the recipe for ‘Impepata di Cozze’. Remove the mussels from their shells and filter the stock through a sieve. Boil the potatoes and mash them with a drop of milk and a pinch of salt. Poach the salmon, I poached it in a tiny pan with very little water, a drizzle of oil and crushed black pepper. Cover the pan and after a couple of minutes turn the salmon over using a fish slice. It should be very lightly cooked. Remove the skin and bones.

Now you’re ready to make the sauce. Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan. Add in the flour and stir to make a roux. Pour in the mussel stock and milk mixture and stir continuously until the sauce has thickened…if it’s too thick just add in another drop of milk. add the mussels to the sauce and cook on a low heat for a minute. Now divide the salmon between 3 or 4 scallop shells (if you don’t have shells you can make this in a shallow casserole dish …but it looks much nicer in the shells!) Pour the mussel sauce on top. If the mashed potatoes have gone cold heat them up with a drop of milk and using a ‘sac a poche’ to pipe them around the edges of the shells. Sprinkle with a little grated cheese and pour over a light drizzle of olive oil. Pour a packet of coarse cooking salt into a baking tray and position the shells so that they don’t tilt over to one side. Bake at 200° for about 15 minutes they should be a nice golden colour. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve hot. In fact you can let them sit for a few minutes before serving because the shells keep them piping hot. Buon appetito 🙂