70 days...I have been home for 70 days. Except for going outside to walk the dog or to get essentials, I have been home. The weather has been fantastic throughout this whole ordeal.
Since living in the UK, I don't remember even 7 consecutive days of beautiful weather, never mind 70. Honestly...it has been wonderful. Everyone is complaining about staying home, but for me it has been blissful.
Clams and fava beans always remind me of summer. I wish I could be in Portugal eating the best fish and seafood on the planet. Next best thing...my house.
This recipe is fast and easy. It takes less than 15 minutes to get to the table.
Linguine with Clams Chouriço and Fava Beans
Serves 4
15 minutes
1000 g. Clams, such as Littlenecks, *cleaned and purged of sand and grit ( sea salt needed)
500 g. Linguine
200 g. Portuguese or Spanish chouriço
150 g. Fava beans, blanched and skinned**
1 Bunch fresh coriander/cilantro, bottom bare stalks chopped finely and reserved, top half with leaves to finish dish, roughly chopped
1 Large lemon, juice and zest
1 Bay leaf
250 ml. Seafood/fish stock, store bought or homemade
250 ml. Dry white wine
6 Cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced very thinly
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper and crushed red chilli flakes, to taste, optional
**To blanch fava beans
In a small saucepan bring water to the boil and blanch the fava beans for approximately 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the skin to reveal the gloriously coloured fava bean. Set them aside and discard skins.
*To purge clams of sand and grit
Place clams in a colander and discard any that are broken or that don't close when lightly tapped. Run them under cold water.
Place cleaned and rinsed clams in a large, ***non-reactive bowl. Fill bowl with cold water and cover clams by 3 inches. Add 2-3 tablespoons of sea salt, NOT iodised, rock or table salt, to the water. Let clams sit in bowl for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes you will begin to see the grit and sand at the bottom of the bowl. DO NOT dump the clams. Gently lift them from the water and place in a clean bowl, so that the sand remains undisturbed.
Dump bowl with dirty water and sand. Fill with fresh cold water and salt again and repeat the process. I do this 3 times, just to make sure. You can do this a few hours ahead of cooking. Keep the clams in fresh, cold salted water in the fridge until ready to use.
***Aluminum, cast iron, and copper are all “reactive.” Stainless steel, ceramic, glass, plastic and metal cookware with enamel coating are all “nonreactive.”
1. Bring a large pot of very generously salted water to a boil for the pasta.
2. In a large saute pan with a lid, heat the olive oil on a high heat. Add chouriço and bay leaf and cook stirring until crisp. Add coriander stalks, lemon zest and garlic, lower heat to low. You do not want to burn the garlic.
3. Add wine, worcestershire sauce, chilli (if using) and stock.Simmer on low while you cook pasta.
4. When water reaches a rolling boil, drop in linguine. Cook according to package directions for al dente. About 11 minutes.
5. When pasta is halfway cooked, about 6 minutes in, increase sauce to a medium -high
heat, add clams to sauce, cover pan and cook for 6-7 minutes, shaking pan gently, back and forth. Steam in pan will make clams open. When clams are all open they are cooked. Discard any that do not open. Turn off heat, add lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves.
Pasta should be finished cooking at this point.
6. Before draining pasta, reserve 1 ladle of the cooking water.
Drain linguine and add it, along with reserved ladle of water, to clam sauce.
Stir to combine pasta with clams and sauce and cook for 2 minutes more on a low heat.
7. Divide among shallow pasta bowls and serve immediately with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, more chilli and grated cheese if desired.