Neapolitan Peppered Mussels with Lemon and Parsley

What you need

• 2 kg (4 1/2 lb) live mussels, in their shells
• 2 tsp black pepper, freshly and coarsely ground, plus more to taste
• 3 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 lemons, cut into wedges

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Check the mussels one by one. Tap any that are open: if they do not close, throw them away, along with any with cracked or broken shells.

2. 2

   Scrape off barnacles from the shells with a knife.

3. 3

   Pull out the hairy beard from each mussel with a sharp tug toward the hinge end of the shell.

4. 4

   Scrub the shells under cold running water with a stiff brush. Do not soak the mussels in fresh water, which kills them.

5. 5

   Drain the mussels well in a colander.

6. 6

   Set a very large pot over high heat and let it get hot, 1-2 min.

7. 7

   Tip in all the mussels at once and grind the pepper over them straight away. Freshly ground pepper gives a far more fragrant, sharper bite.

8. 8

   Cover with the lid and cook for 3-4 min, shaking the pot hard every minute, until the shells open wide.

9. 9

   Discard any mussels that stayed shut.

10. 10

    Pile the mussels into a warm serving dish and pour over the juices from the pot.

11. 11

    Scatter the parsley on top, add more pepper and serve at once with the lemon wedges to squeeze over.

Imported from giallozafferano.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.