SERVES 4
Asturias is a verdant region along the northern coast between Galicia and Cantabria that still officially retains its title of Principality. The region is known for its sidra (hard apple cider) and sawdust-floored sidrerías, fishing, dairy farming, and mining—and its large, oblong white beans.
This is one of Asturias’s most celebrated, and delicious, dishes. Prepare the clams separately and then add them to the beans, as a single clam still holding sand can wreck the dish. Serve with a dry white wine, or, more appropriately, with a glass of authentic Asturian sidra.
1. Drain, rinse, and place the white beans in a saucepan with about 2 cups/480 ml water. Bring to a boil, cover the pan, and remove from the heat. Leave them in the liquid until ready to use.
2. Purge the clams of any sand by soaking them in salty water following the directions on page 341.
3. In a large sauté pan or skillet, add the clams, bay leaf, and 2/3 cup/165 ml water. Cover the pan and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan gently, until the clams have opened, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and leave covered. Discard any clams that do not open.
4. In a small sauté pan or skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden and fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the garlic and the oil to a mortar. Add the pimentón and breadcrumbs, moisten with 2 or 3 tablespoons liquid from the beans, and mash with a pestle into a soft paste. Or mash with the back of a spoon in a bowl.
5. Drain off the liquid from the clams and add enough liquid from the beans to total 1½> cups/360 ml.
6. In a large saucepan or deep sauté pan, dissolve the garlic paste in the mixture of broths. Transfer the beans with a slotted spoon to the pan, season with salt, and add the clams. Cover the pan and simmer gently over low heat for 10 minutes. There should be just enough liquidy sauce so that the dish needs a spoon. Tip in some more broth from the clams or beans if needed.
7. Ladle into bowls and serve hot.
