Almejas en Salsa Verde

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I bought these beautiful clams at my local farmers market thinking to prepare clams with linguini. But there was no pasta in the pantry so it was Google time to find a recipe for my clams. Since this is a Mexican food blog, I searched for a clam recipe in Google-Mexico and found the recipe – Almejas en Salsa Verde. Turns out this is a Basque recipe so the “Salsa Verde” is not what I expected; won’t find tomatillo and chile serrano for dipping chips in this salsa.

I viewed a YouTube video from a Basque chef on preparing almejas en salsa verde and as he was dicing the parsley he said “If I was in Mexico I’d probably use cilantro….” Ok, this gives me enough justification to publish a non-Mexican recipe for you so I use cilantro and chile de arbol pepper to in this Basque recipe. Let’s get started on this easy and elegant appetizer recipe.

Serves 2

Ingredients

16 clams

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1 chile de arbol pepper or a pinch of chile flakes

¾ tablespoon flour

½ cup white wine, water or fish broth

1 tablespoon finely diced cilantro or parsley

Water for thinning sauce if necessary

Salt if needed

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Preparation

With a soft brush or cloth brush the outside of the clam to remove loose shell debris or sand. In the first of two bowls, allow clams to soak in cold water for 20 minutes. Pull out the clams so not to transfer sand from the first bowl and soak them in the second bowl of water while you prepare the rest of the dish.
Add the garlic and pepper to wide pan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic. Just as it’s starting to turn golden in color, add the flour, stir and cook for a few minutes.
Add the wine (or water or fish stock) and stir and cook until the mixture begins to thicken. If necessary add a little water to thin out the sauce.
Adjust the heat to simmering level. Add your clams, cook until the clams open.
Taste the sauce for salt. Because clams release salt water you may not need to add salt. Add cilantro, stir then pour clams into a serving bowl. Drizzle clams with a little olive oil.