I am ok with the fish. Almost any kind of fish. But the rest...... I have a problem. It was not a problem actually, until I got married. My husband and his whole family adores these creatures but I am unable to eat them. Recently I gathered all my courage and managed to try some fried calamari and actually liked them. And this means I have a looong way to go if I decide to try them one by one. Being unable to eat does not stop me and my curiousity of course. Although the well known phrase is soon to be "curiousity killed the domestic cat" (!), I will not stop cooking them.
I prepare clams regularly, always with white wine deglasé but this time we had only the red wine from my father in law's own cellar. This year they decided on Merlot only, unlike past year's, which was a mixture of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. So the wine was red as blood, and as was the sauce. Though I cannot eat clams, I like to eat linguini with their sauce. Their liquor has an incredible aroma and goes very well with garlic and wine. For four to five persons:
- 20 -25 clams
- 400 gs package of linguini
- 1 cup of white wine
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- a small onion
- 1 big ripe tomato (or half a can of chopped ones)
- coarsely ground blackpepper
- finely chopped parsley
- olive oil for sauteéing
When you decide to cook, rinse them well with running water and place in a bowl which is filled with tap water. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons cornmeal over the bowl and mix slightly. Leave aside for 30 minutes. Clams will happily eat the cornmeal and leave out the sand they have in their shell.
Discard the water and rinse clams throughly. You can prepare linguini first, as it takes little time to prepare clams. Chop the onion and garlic and sauteé for two minutes. Add tomatoes and let their juices evaporate. Then add the wine and wait until it evaporates to half of its volume. Normally clams have enough salt like the other seafood, but you may add a little salt just for the sauce. Put clams in the pan, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. They should be opening quickly as the steam hits, do not cook them more than 5 mins or you will have small pieces of rubber to eat. Throw any unopened ones and check the amount of liquid inside the pan. Keep in mind that I am not using any cream or other thickeners for this sauce, you may do as you like. Divide the clams and the sauce over linguini on the plates, garnish with parsley and serve hot.
Hi Tülin, that's a really fascinating post; you see, I live in a country which has no own shores and though I have been learning much about fish and seafood (thanks to a very good fishmonger near my home), for instance I have not known anything about how "to feed clams with corn flour" etc so far. I also admit that I have never done anything with clams myself but I will have to try them, following your descriptions :-). Thank you so much for sharing your Mediterranean experiences with us, you know this makes me a happy woman... Take care and until soon, angelika
Oh, yum! I love this linguini with clams recipe. I like clams and calamari, even though I don't eat it a lot. I hardly eat calamari.
I like that the sauce in your recipe is not heavy.
Paz