Portuguese Clams (Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato)
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2 people as a main
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1/2 cup/125ml/4flozs dry white wine
- 1/4 cup/60ml/2flozs water
- 50g/1.7ozs butter
- 3-4 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1kg/2.2lbs vongole clams or pippies, drained
- Wedges of lemon and bread to serve
To clean live clams, place them in a bowl of cold, salted water for 3 hours so that they spit out the sand and grit. Use a solution of 30g/1oz of salt per 1 litre/1 quart of water. Drain in a colander.
Step 1 - First heat the oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute. Add the white wine and water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the butter, half the coriander leaves, lemon juice, sugar and salt. Taste the sauce for seasoning.
Step 2 - Add the clams or pippies and cook for 5 minutes until they open up tossing them gently in the sauce. Place the clams on a platter discarding any that haven't opened. Then pour over the sauce gently making sure to leave behind any last bits that might have sand or grit in them. Sprinkle the remaining coriander and serve with bread.