One of my favourite recipes, these fresh, juicy cockles are just steamed open and topped with a fragrant herb sauce. Serve with lots of crusty bread for mopping up the juices.
Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS
Green sauce
½ packed cup each parsley leaves and mint leaves
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
⅓ cup olive oil
Cockles
1 tablespoon olive oil
1.5 kilograms cockles, cleaned (see Cook’s note)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
To serve
2 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
lemon wedges
METHOD
Green sauce: Place all the ingredients in a small food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
Cockles: Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over a high heat. Add the cockles, garlic and chilli then cover and steam until the cockles have opened. Discard any that remain closed.
To serve: Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cockles to a serving dish. Put ½ cup of the cooking liquid into a bowl and stir in the green sauce.
Spoon this over the cockles, scatter over the parsley and serve immediately with lemon wedges for squeezing.
Cook’s note: To clean the cockles, place in a large bowl of cold water with 2 teaspoons of salt. Leave for 15 minutes for them to purge any sand, then drain well.
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126
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