By Francesca Montillo, ISDA Food + Travel Writer
Serves: 4 – 6
This is a staple dish in southern Italy, where seafood is plentiful and eaten year-round. This recipe cooks extremely quickly, and the prep time of scrubbing and cleaning the shells is more time-consuming than the actual cooking time. As soon as the clams and mussels open up, you can assume they are cooked. This is great served as a main dish or starter.
If desired, the broth is plentiful to cook about a half pound of pasta. Thin long pasta such as spaghetti or Angel hair go particularly well with this dish. This one pan dish is dairy free, gluten free and nut free, so it should satisfy those attending dinner with selective palates.
This is a wonderful base recipe for mussels and clams, additions to this dish can include olives, capers, lemon juice, fresh herbs, and crushed red pepper. Modify to your preference to mix things up.
Sauté of Mussels and Clams
Ingredients
½ cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1½ pounds mussels, rinsed and debearded
1½ pounds clams, rinsed and scrubbed clean
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup dry white wine
Crusty bread (optional)
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, until slightly golden but not burnt. Add the parsley and tomatoes and stir.
- Add the mussels and clams and stir to combine. Season with desired amount of salt and pepper. Place the lid and cook undisturbed for 2 minutes.
- Add the white wine, stir and cover again with the lid. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally during the cooking time. Remove lid and check to see if the mussels and clams have opened up. Continue cooking for an additional minute if any remain unopened.
- Remove from the heat, discard any mussels and clams that remain closed after 7 minutes on the heat. Serve hot in serving bowls with crusty bread to dunk in the sauce, if desired.
