Mussels With Milk

Preparation:

Preparation: Brush the mussels vigorously (or scrape them with a knife) under running water to free them from all encrustations, then put them on the fire in a pan and leave them there until the shells have opened. Remove the molluscs from the shells and keep them aside. Filter the liquid emitted during cooking through a thin cloth, in order to free it from any residual sand, and also keep this aside. Wash the leek and cut the white part into slices (the green part will be eliminated); peel the potato and cut it into cubes. Put these two ingredients in a pan with the foaming butter and fry them for a few minutes. Boil the milk and slowly pour it over the vegetables. Add half a liter of boiling water and the crumbled breadcrumbs. Cook for 30 minutes, then pass everything through a sieve or vegetable mill, collecting the mixture in the cooking container. Add the mussels and their filtered liquid to the milk cream. Season with salt and pepper, add the chopped parsley and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, toast the slices of bread. Then remove the 'cozze al latte' from the heat and serve piping hot, with croutons.