You know how I feel about “recycling” food—making sure we don’t waste anything. This is the perfect place to use a big piece of day-old or 2-day-old bread. Even the trimmings from the bread can be turned into bread crumbs. Why buy them when you can make them yourself? The zoccolo will be crispy on the outside, tender inside. The longer it sits in the juice from the mussels, the more it will absorb.

　　

Ingredients

makes 6 servings

　　Day-old country-style bread from a loaf or loaves large enough to yield six pieces of bread cut as described below.

　　Vegetable oil as needed

　　

Step 1

Cut the crust off the bread and trim the bread into six pieces, each approximately 3 1/2 × 2 1/2 × 1 1/2 inches.

　　

Step 2

Pour enough oil into a large, deep skillet to fill 1 1/2 inches. Heat over medium heat to 350° F, or until a corner of one of the bread pieces gives off a lively sizzle when dipped into the oil. Add half the bread pieces and fry, turning as necessary, until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. As they fry, adjust the heat under the pan to maintain a steady temperature. Drain on paper towels and repeat with the remaining bread. The zoccoli may be prepared several hours in advance. If so, you can rewarm them in a low oven while preparing the mussels.

　　From Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright © 2001 by A La Carte Communications and Tutti a Tavola, LLC. Published by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.Buy the full book from Amazon.