Recipe of the week: Beachcombers’ soup: The sea itself in a bowl

Unlike most people I know, “I am not content to merely be a spectator in nature,” said Hank Shaw in Hunt, Gather, Cook (Rodale). Many years before I started writing a blog about food that home cooks can harvest by exercising their hunter-gatherer instincts, I was a boy who considered it natural to spend family beach vacations collecting mussels, clams, and periwinkles that we’d enjoy for dinner.

Most American consumers suppress that instinct. “Our hunting and gathering is now largely restricted to picking through the produce aisle for the best ear of corn or keeping an eagle eye out for so-called bargains.” But as more people take an interest in fresh, local, sustainable food, it’s becoming more common to see some of them fishing more regularly, or hunting game, or foraging for berries, greens, and mushrooms.

This time of year, gathering shellfish can be a good way to begin adding “wild food” to your diet. Check local laws to see if you’ll need a shellfish license, and once you’ve brought home your catch, try using it in this classic Sardinian soup. Though it’s traditionally made with baby clams, I’ve always made it with mussels or periwinkles. For the broth, I use seawater, but heavily salted tap water will do fine. I do recommend that you hunt down some fregula pasta or Israeli couscous. “If you must, substitute orzo, but it won’t be the same.”

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Recipe of the week

Sardinian mussel or periwinkle soup

2–3 lbs mussels or periwinkles, in their shells

2 cups seawater or salty tap water

¼ cup olive oil

A healthy pinch of saffron, or 1 packet saffron powder

5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

½ cup chopped parsley

½ tsp Calabrian hot pepper or ground red pepper

½ lb fregula pasta

½ cup coarsely chopped roasted red pepper

Grated peel of a lemon

Pour the seawater or salty tap water into a large wide pot with cover and bring to boil. If using wild mussels, scrub their shells and pull off the beards; if using periwinkles, wash them in cold water. Add mussels or periwinkles, cover, and steam for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they open. Remove shellfish from water and pick out most of the meats, leaving a few in the shell—that makes the soup look more interesting. Put them in a bowl and toss with 1 tbsp of the oil. Set aside.

Strain remaining broth though cheesecloth or paper towel into a bowl and set aside. Crumble saffron into it while still hot.

In a large soup pot, heat remaining olive oil over medium-high heat and cook garlic, stirring frequently, for 1 or 2 minutes. Add parsley, hot pepper, and broth and mix to combine. Bring to a boil and add fregula. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until pasta is nearly done. Add roasted red pepper and reserved mussels and cook for 3 minutes longer. Right before serving, add lemon peel. Serve with crusty bread and a crisp white wine such as Vermentino. Serves four.