Stuffed baked mussels in tomato sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 kg mussel(s), cleaned
• 400 ml dry white wine
• 2 m.-sized carrot(s), sliced
• ½ fennel, diced
• ½ celeriac, diced
• 2 stalk(s) celery, cut into rings
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 medium-sized onions, diced
• Salt
• chili
• 30 g butter
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 800 g tomatoes, peeled
• Salt
• chili
• 4 eggs
• 8 tbsp breadcrumbs, coarse
• 2 bunches of flat-leaf parsley
• 6 tbsp Pecorino, grated
• Salt
• chili

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 5 minutes

For the stock, melt the butter in a saucepan, sauté the garlic cloves and onions. Add the vegetables and sauté gently, then pour in the white wine and season with salt and chili. Simmer briefly. Add the thoroughly cleaned mussels (discard any that are open) to the stock and simmer for about 8 minutes, then remove and let cool slightly. Discard any unopened mussels. Reserve the mussel stock for the tomato sauce. For the tomato sauce, sauté finely chopped garlic cloves and diced onions in a little olive oil, add the peeled and diced tomatoes, and season with salt and chili. Add two-thirds of the mussel stock and simmer until thickened. Add Italian herbs, if desired. Pour the tomato sauce into a large, shallow baking dish and preheat the oven to 200°C. For the filling, whisk the eggs, add the chopped parsley and 4 finely chopped garlic cloves, and stir in about 8 tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Season with a little salt and chili. Break open the cooled mussels, discarding the empty shells, fill the shell-containing parts with a little egg mixture, and place them on top of the tomato sauce. Make sure no tomato sauce runs into the mussel shells. Finally, sprinkle the grated pecorino cheese over the mussels and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Serve with white bread.