Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [61]
For 4 servings
3 dozen small littleneck clams live in their shells
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoons shallots OR onions chopped very fine
2 teaspoons garlic chopped very fine
2 tablespoons parsley chopped very fine
¼ teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in ⅔ cup dry white wine
⅛ teaspoon chopped hot red chili pepper
For each serving: 1 thick slice of crusty bread, grilled
1. Soak the clams for 5 minutes in a basin or sink filled with cold water. Drain and refill the basin with fresh cold water, leaving in the clams. Vigorously scrub the clams one by one with a very stiff brush. Drain, refill the basin, and repeat the whole scrubbing operation. Do this 2 or 3 more times, always in fresh changes of water, until you see no more sand settling to the bottom of the basin. Discard any that, when handled, don’t clamp shut.
2. Choose a broad enough pot that can later accommodate all the clams in layers no more than 2 or 3 deep. Put in the olive oil and chopped shallots or onion and turn on the heat to medium. Sauté until the shallots or onion become translucent, and add the garlic. Sauté the garlic until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add the parsley. Stir once or twice, and add the wine and the chili pepper. Cook at lively heat for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, then put all the clams in the pot.
3. Stir 2 or 3 times, trying to turn over as many of the clams as you can, then cover the pot, keeping the heat at high. Check the clams frequently, moving them around with a long-handled spoon. Some clams will open sooner than others. Using a pair of tongs or a slotted spoon, pick up the clams as they open and put them into a serving bowl.
4. When all the clams have opened and have been transferred to the serving bowl, turn off the heat and, tipping the pot to one side, ladle the juices out of the pot and over the clams. Take care not stir up the juices or to scoop them up from the bottom, where there may be sand. Bring the bowl to the table promptly together with a slice of grilled bread for each diner’s soup plate.
Note In Italy, no cook book or cook will ever advise you to discard any clams that don’t open while cooking. Clams stay clamped shut because they are alive. The most reluctant ones to loosen their hold and unclench their shells are the most vigorously alive of all. When eating them raw on the half shell, how does anyone know which ones would not have opened in the pot? The clams you should discard are those that stay open when you handle them before cooking, because they are dead.
Clam and Pea Soup
CLAMS MARRY WELL with green vegetables, and when good fresh peas are around this can be an especially sweet and lively soup. If raw peas are stale and floury, however, it may be wiser to settle for the frozen variety.
For 6 servings
3 dozen small littleneck clams live in their shells
3 pounds fresh peas, unshelled weight, OR 3 ten-ounce packages frozen peas, thawed
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
1½ teaspoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
⅔ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Crostini, fried bread squares
1. Soak and scrub the clams. Discard any open clams that do not clamp shut at your touch.
2. Put the clams in a pot broad enough to accommodate them in layers no more than 2 or 3 deep, add ½ cup of water, cover tightly, and turn on the heat to high. Check the clams frequently, moving them around with a long-handled spoon, bringing up to the top the clams from the bottom. As soon as the first clams start to open, transfer these with tongs or a slotted spoon to a bowl. When the last clam has unclenched its shell and you have taken it out of the pot, turn off the heat, and leave the