CLAMS IN SALSA VERDE

This recipe is a family favourite. We always eat it as a starter at Christmas, and when it’s served the table goes silent. The only noise is the sound of people eating – it’s very sauce-y, so you use the clam shells as little spoons to scoop up the liquid. We only start to talk again when everyone’s finished!

FOR 4–6

1kg clams

fine sea salt, to clean the clams (see method)

100ml extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped

200ml white wine

1 dried Cayenne pepper, broken in half

40g plain flour

650ml fish stock

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Check with your fishmonger whether the clams have been cleaned. If you need to clean them yourself, put them into a bowl of cold water with a tablespoon of fine salt and leave them for 40 minutes, moving them around gently every 10 minutes. The salt water makes them expel any sand.

Put the olive oil into a high-sided pan and put on a medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add half the parsley and the wine. Cook until the wine evaporates, then add the Cayenne and the flour. Stir, then add the fish stock. Continue stirring and, when it starts to come together, add the drained clams. Put the lid on quickly, and shake the pan a little to encourage the clams to open – you want them to open quickly in order to keep as much juice as possible inside the clams. Season with salt and pepper, and finish with the remaining chopped parsley.