Ingredients

Servings 4

For crouton

• 8 slices rustic, country-style bread
• ½ cup white wine vinegar
• frying oil to taste

• 2 lb mussels
• 3 ½ tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 Hot chili pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig parsley
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

20 minutes preparation + 10 minutes cooking

Lightly wet the slices of bread in the vinegar, leave to dry for some minutes on a clean dishcloth and then fry them in boiling oil. As soon as they become golden and crunchy, remove with a slotted spoon, drain them and leave to dry on absorbent kitchen paper. Clean the mussels, eliminating the filaments, then brush them and, after carefully washing them, put in a pan with a lid and open over high heat. Drain them, keeping the liquid, and eliminate the valves. At this point, prepare the sauce: pour the oil into a pan, brown the cloves of garlic and the chili pepper, then add the mussels, a glass of their cooking liquid and the bay leaves. Leave to gain flavor for five minutes, add the wine and, as soon as all the liquid has evaporated, the parsley, chopped. Arrange the crunchy golden croutons in individual plates, pour over each of them a ladleful of mussels with their cooking liquid and serve.