Clams and other clam-like bivalves are some of my favorite things to eat. From mussels, to oysters, to scallops, to small cockles and big, shiny venus clams – I love them all! For this dish, small clams are steamed in a little bit of wine and lots of butter and garlic after which you can serve them over pasta for dinner, or simply as they are with some crusty bread for dipping (the best part!) as an appetizer or snack. This dish is so simple, but so so good!
You need only a little bit of dry white wine for this recipe, but you can drink the rest of the bottle alongside this dish, of course! If you don’t wish to do so, you can also replace the wine in this dish with some water or vegetable broth.
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Clams in Butter, Garlic and Parsley / Palourdes en Persillade
Simple recipe for clams in butter, garlic and parsley
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- 500g small clams, or cockles
- 3 - 4 garlic cloves
- Bunch of flat leaf parsley
- 50g butter
- 85ml white wine
- Black pepper to taste
Method
The 2 hour prep time is for purging/cleaning the clams.- Start by purging sand from the clams by leaving them for one hour in salted water (about a tablespoon of coarse salt for 1 liter).
- Carefully lift out the clams and try not to disturb the sand that has accumulated in the bottom too much. Pour out water and sand and replace with fresh clean water (no salt this time) and leave them for another hour, or a bit longer if possible.
- Once your clams are almost done purging, finely chop the garlic and the parsley and keep aside.
- Put a large pan on high heat and add the cleaned clams. Try to keep them in a single or double layer at most. Pour in the wine.
- When almost all of the clams have opened, add the chopped parsley, garlic and the butter. Stir carefully until the butter has melted and the garlic has cooked a little (2 minutes max). sprinkle over some freshly cracked black pepper.
- Serve immediately with some crusty fresh bread, or pasta (and some white wine!)
