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| Good combo--clams with beans. |
Lent, Cuaresma, when it's customary in Spain to eat fish and shellfish and abstain from meat, is nearly over. Easter (Pascua de Resurección) (and, at my house, roast lamb) is only hours away. But this dish of beans and clams that I cooked on Viernes Santo (Good Friday), is so good you can serve it any time of the year.
For my Good Friday meal I wanted coquinas, those tiny wedge-shelled clams that have such a delicate flavor. But the market only had small almejas, clams. No problem. You can use any small to medium-sized clams or berberechos, cockles. Cultivated Manila clams are fine. You could use fresh shucked clams, but you would miss the fun of hands-on eating.
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| Made with fresh clams and jarred beans, the dish is quick to put together. |
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| A topping of breadcrumbs, garlic, and parsley adds crunch. |
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| Clams are hands-on! Serve with bowls for the shells and paper towels for hand-wiping. |
Beans with Clams
Alubias con Almejas
Use any sort of cooked white beans—tiny navy beans, fat fabes, cannellini, baby limas. I used a 660-gram (23-ounce) jar of pochas, cooked shelling beans, drained and rinsed. The quantities given make 3 servings or 4 small dishes, but the recipe is easily doubled—two jars of beans, two pounds of clams. (If you’re starting with dried beans, soak them overnight and cook in salted water with aromatics (onion, celery, bay leaf) until beans are tender before proceeding with the recipe.
Serve the beans and clams with bowls for discarding the clam shells and paper towels for hand-wiping.
Serves 3.
1 pound small to medium clams
½ cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons diced carrot (optional)
2 cloves garlic, 1 chopped, 1 minced
Red pepper flakes
½ tablespoon flour
¼ cup white wine
1 cup fish stock or water
Salt to taste
1 bay leaf
2 ½ cups rinsed and drained cooked beans
¼ cup chopped parsley, divided
2 tablespoons crushed croutons
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| Open clams and save broth. |
Soak the clams in salt water for 1 hour so they disgorge sand. Carefully lift them out of the water and place them in a deep pan with ½ cup of water. Place on high heat, covered, until the clam shells open. Remove the pan from the heat and scoop out clams with a slotted spoon. Discard any that do not open. Pour the clam broth through a fine sieve over the clams and reserve them.
Wipe out the pan. Heat the oil in the pan and poach the onion, carrot, and 1 clove of chopped garlic on medium, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Regulate the heat so that the onion does not brown. Add the red pepper flakes. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute. Stir in the wine and cook 1 minute. Stir in the stock, salt, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and add the beans. Do not stir, but gently swirl or shake the pan to mix the beans with the stock. Cook 10 minutes.
While beans are simmering, combine 2 tablespoons of the chopped parsley with the crouton crumbs and minced garlic.
Add the clams and their broth to the beans. Swirl to combine beans and clams. Cook on medium-low until thoroughly heated. Immediately before serving sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley.
Serve the clams and beans accompanied by the parsley-garlic-crumb topping.
More recipes with legumes and shellfish:
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