Food has a unique ability to transport you somewhere else – maybe to a moment from your childhood or back to a sunny holiday – and for me this dish does just that, said David Gingell. As with all cooking, the finished product is only as good as the ingredients you use. Good olive oil and excellent clams are the keys here (and with seafood in particular, it is important to use a trusted supplier). Clams can be the ultimate fast food: this dish should take you no longer than 20 minutes to prepare from start to finish.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1kg palourde clams
- 5 shallots, diced
- 1 clove garlic
- 30ml olive oil
- 500g cooked, jarred butter beans
- 50ml dry sherry
- 40g jamón, chopped into strips (any kind of fancy Spanish or Italian dry-cured ham will do the job well)
- 1 small handful chopped parsley
- ½ lemon
Method
- Start by checking each of your clams is closed tight and clean. I like to pop a few at a time into a plastic lidded container and give them a little shake. This will root out any dead ones, which will open and should be discarded. You can also leave them in the fridge just covered in salty water for an hour or two; this will trick them into thinking they are back in the sea and start filtering out any internal sand.
- Assuming you are in possession of clean clams, you can get started. You will need a fairly shallow and, most importantly, wide pan with a lid that fits.
- Slowly sweat your shallots and garlic in olive oil with a small pinch of salt for a couple of minutes, until soft and sweet.
- Add the clams and drained butter beans, add a good glug of sherry, turn up the heat to high and cook with a lid until all the clams are open (discard any that aren’t).
- Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped jamón and parsley.
- Taste it and spend a little time adjusting the seasoning with a good squeeze of lemon, a couple of twists of black pepper and salt if needed, maybe even a little extra glug of olive oil.
- Serve in the pan that you have cooked it in, in the middle of the table. A few nice chunks of bread served alongside to mop up any juices at the end is a welcome addition.
David Gingell is the chef/co-founder of Primeur, Westerns Laundry and Jolene, all in north London.
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