I had such a lovely morning in my new kitchen.
I spent time just pottering around, experimenting with this and that. Since I have a ton of kitchen utensils and equipment, it was a good time to sort things out a little and make some adjustments as to where things work best. I move pretty quickly when I cook so there always needs to be some organisation so things flow smoothly.
Since I was the only one eating lunch today, I decided to cook myself something I like. And as I am the only one at home who likes shellfish, I thought I’d cook some clams.
I really like these flower clams. They are slightly more expensive than the normal clams but they are also more meaty and chewy. I was going to cook a simple Linguine Vongole, but I remembered that I had some pesto sauce left. I love pesto, so I figured I would combine clams and pesto in my pasta dish.
If you are a fan of clams, this is a great dish to cook because the pasta absorbs the clam liquor and becomes super tasty.
I love loads of garlic in Italian food – the pesto already contains garlic so if you are not as big a fan of garlic as I am then go easy on the amount of garlic you add to the dish. However, if you love garlic, then go for it – the garlic really adds a ton of flavor to this dish!
I used my Le Creuset Buffet Casserole to cook this dish. Because it is a shallow pot, it is perfect for cooking the clams as it is easy to find them to fish them out of the pan, and also since I was cooking for 2, I could use the pan to cook the pasta as well.
I love enamel-coated pots from Le Creuset. They have great features, including:
1. Convenient quick heating and superior heat distribution
2. A stainless steel rim around the top edge prevents chipping and cracking
3. Constructed from heavy-gauge carbon steel with a durable and colourful porcelain enamel finish
4. Easy-to-clean interior resists flavour absorption and staining
5. Heat-resistant phenolic knobs stay cool to the touch for safe, secure handling
6. Triple-welded side handles for a secure, confident hold when lifting
7. Can be used on any heat source (gas, electric, induction, ceramic), except microwave
It is my go-to pot for stews and pasta when I do not need to cook in large quantities.
Here are the instructions on how to cook this dish.
NOTE: Once you get home, place the clams in a bowl of cold water and added a couple of tablespoons of salt. Leave the clams in the water for a minimum of 2 hours to soak so that any grit would be pushed out of the clams. For a detailed guide on how to clean clams, see here.
In a casserole, saute the minced garlic in some olive oil and melted butter until they become slightly brown.
Add the clams and stir.
Add white wine (or the same amount of chicken stock if you do not want to use wine). Cover with a lid and let the clams steam until they open. Stir occasionally.
Once the clams have opened, transfer them into a bowl. Discard any clams that do not open. Remove the shells of the clams, leaving a few with the shells on for presentation purposes. If you are cooking for yourself and you don’t intend to take any photos of the dish, then by all means remove all the shells. 🙂 Set this aside.
Add the pesto and chicken stock (See here for my notes on chicken stock). Mush it around to incorporate into the liquid.
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Stir until there are no lumps in the sauce.
Bring the liquid to a boil. Add the pasta.
Cover with a lid, turn the heat to medium and cook this until the pasta is al dente . If there is not enough stock, you can always add more.
Once the pasta is al dente, season with salt and pepper.
Return the shell-less clams to the pasta. Toss to distribute.
Transfer everything onto a plate, place the remaining clams on the pasta and top with chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley, chili flakes and more freshly ground coarse black pepper.
Serve this immediately.
I can eat this everyday. Really! 😀
WORKSHOPS
Date: Friday 24 March 2017
Workshop: Hands-on Valrhona Marble Butter Cake and Lana-Inspired Chocolate Fudge Cake Workshop
Time: 9.00am – 12.00pm
Venue: The Eureka Cooking Lab
Tickets Link > CLICK HERE
Date: Saturday 15 April 2017
Workshop: Hands-on Valrhona Marble Butter Cake and Lana-Inspired Chocolate Fudge Cake Workshop
Time: 9.00am – 12.00pm
Venue: The Eureka Cooking Lab
Tickets Link > CLICK HERE
Date: Thursday 2 March 2017
Workshop: Hands-on Pandan Chiffon & Hokkaido Milk Cocoa Chiffon Cakes Workshop
Time: 9.30am – 12.30pm
Venue: Butter & Bake
Tickets Link > CLICK HERE
Date: Saturday 22 April 2017
Workshop: Hands-on Pandan Chiffon & Hokkaido Milk Cocoa Chiffon Cakes Workshop
Time: 9.00am – 12.00pm
Venue: The Eureka Cooking Lab
Tickets Link > CLICK HERE
Date: Wednesday 1 April 2017
Workshop: Hands on Mango Yogurt Chiffon Cake Workshop
Time: 9.00am – 11.00pm
Venue: The Eureka Cooking Lab
Tickets Link > CLICK HERE
- 500g flower clams
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup (60ml) white wine, or replace with the same amount of chicken stock - I used Chardonnay
- 2-3 tablespoons pesto - I used pesto alla genovese
- 1 3/4 cup (420ml) low-sodium chicken stock (or mix 210ml salted chicken stock with 210ml water), adjust accordingly
- 250g pasta - I used instant spaghetti
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- 1 bunch Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- dried chili flakes
- Before you cook this, you will need to immerse the live clams in water that is quite heavily salted. This encourages the clams to give out whatever dirt, etc from their shells. After soaking for a couple of hours, rinse the clams thoroughly and gently scrub the shells with a brush.
- In a casserole, saute the minced garlic in some olive oil and melted butter until they become slightly brown.
- Add the clams and stir.
- Add white wine (or the same amount of chicken stock if you do not want to use wine). Cover with a lid and let the clams steam until they open. Stir occasionally.
- Once the clams have opened, transfer them into a bowl. Discard any clams that do not open. Remove the shells of the clams, leaving a few with the shells on for presentation purposes. Set this aside.
- Add the pesto and chicken stock. Mush it around to incorporate into the liquid. Stir until there are no lumps in the sauce.
- Bring the liquid to a boil. Add the pasta.
- Cover with a lid, turn the heat to medium and cook this until the pasta is al dente . If there not enough stock, you can always add more.
- Once the pasta is al dente, season with salt and pepper.
- Return the shell-less clams to the pasta. Toss to distribute.
- Transfer everything onto a plate, place the remaining clams on the pasta and top with chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley, chili flakes and more freshly ground coarse black pepper.
- Serve this immediately.
Tovolo Silicone Mixing Spoon – Fuchsia
Tovolo Mini Silicone Tongs – Chili Pepper
Le Creuset Buffert Casserole (26cm) in Ocean
Can I replaced clams with mussels? Same way of cooking? Thanks! I stumbled upon your blog and wow.. It is a life saviour!
Hi Evie, yes you can! 🙂
For the pasta, no need to precook in boiling water and draining first before transferring to the gravy? The pasta can just take out from the package directly and cook directly in the gravy issit?
Hi Diana,
This looks like an easy dish to cook during my staycation at a serviced apartment. Where can I buy the flower clams and the pesto? I am from Singapore.
Hi Sharyn you should be able to find the flower clams and pesto at most Fariprice or Sheng Shong supermarkets.
I tried this recipe for today dinner and its taste good and my family like it.
May I know besides using seafood (ie flower clams) can we replace by chicken or fish, will the taste still the same?
Hi Christine it won’t be as tasty because there won’t be clam liquor.
Hi Diane, you mentioned to soak the clams in heavily salted water. How do u determine how much salt to add to how much water?
Here you go :
NOTE: Once you get home, place the clams in a bowl of cold water and added a couple of tablespoons of salt. Leave the clams in the water for a minimum of 2 hours to soak so that any grit would be pushed out of the clams. For a detailed guide on how to clean clams, see here.
Link is in the post 🙂
You mention butter but how much to use?
it depends on how oily you like your food. Maybe a tablespoon?
as much/ little as you like.