GRILLED RAZOR CLAMS AL AJILLO

I love shellfish cooked like this over a hot flat tray or plancha. In Spain, we don’t really eat shellfish cold, we generally expect it to be hot. I think it’s ten times more delicious when it’s grilled and eaten straight away. All you really need for cooking razor clams is a tray or a flat grill.

FOR 4

12 medium-sized razor clams

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil, enough to drizzle over the pan

juice of 2 lemons

2 teaspoons ajillo (see here)

First, give the razor clams a good wash in cold salted water, then leave them in the water for 15–20 minutes to expel any sand.

You don’t want to cook too many clams at once – if they are squashed they won’t have room to open. Place around 5 clams on a flat tray or griddle (you won’t be able to fit many in a round pan) and put on a medium-high heat. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top and leave them to open. Making sure they stay nice and flat, turn them over and cook them for 1 minute.

Squeeze over the lemon juice, remove to a long tray, season with salt and pepper, and finish with the ajillo.