Impepata di Cozze

Ingredients

• 2 kg fresh mussels, dark-shelled, scrubbed and debearded; any open after a sharp tap discarded
• 1 tbsp plain flour, for purging
• 2 tsp black pepper, whole, cracked coarsely just before use
• 1 lemon, halved, for squeezing at table
• 4 thick slices pane cafone or other rustic crusty bread

Method

1. 1
   Submerge the scrubbed, debearded mussels in cold salted water with the flour and leave for 1 hour to expel sand. Drain, rinse, and inspect each mussel: tap any open shell sharply against the work surface and discard it if it does not close.
2. 2
   Set a large, heavy pot over the fiercest available heat. Add the mussels — no wine, no garlic, no oil, no stock — and cover immediately with a tight-fitting lid. Shake the pot periodically to redistribute the mussels.
3. 3
   This is where the dish lives or dies: after three to four minutes, lift the lid. The instant the shells have gaped fully open and the liquor is boiling in the base of the pot, cut the heat. A moment beyond this point and the flesh shrinks from plump and tender to shrivelled and rubbery.
4. 4
   Crack the black pepper generously over the opened mussels directly in the pot, then ladle mussels and all their liquor into warmed bowls. Squeeze lemon over at the table. Lay the bread alongside for soaking in the pot liquor.