Clams in 'Salsa Verde' (green sauce) are traditionally eaten as a special dish up north in Galicia, and are a wonderful starter to share with friends and family. This dish makes for a fantastic light summer meal so why not give it a go this August. As is the case with most traditional recipes the quality of the ingredients is the key to a fantastic result.
This is a quick and easy dish to make and will take no more than 20 minutes to prepare if your clams are already clean and free of sand. The ingredients are easy to find but it is essential to use fresh parsley, a good dry and fruity white wine and of course fresh clams not frozen. If you are able to find them Galician clams are the best. I highly recommend using an Albariño white wine or a Ribeiro, both work wonderfully with this dish.
Ingredients to make Clams in Salsa Verde ( 2 people) :
500 grams of clean clams
125 ml of white wine (Albariño Rias Baixes ó Ribeiro, preferably)
2 cloves garlic large
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of wheat flour
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper
(some like to add 1 small crushed dried chilli – optional)
Before you begin, make sure the clams are clean and have no sand in them. If you bought them already cleaned, great, but if not you will have to clean them. There is nothing worse than chewing on a gritty clam!
So you will need to let them soak in water with salt for 2 hours, changing the water two or three times during that time. Once the clams are clean we can start with the recipe. Peel two cloves of garlic, mince and remove the heart of the garlic. Put them in a frying pan with 4 tablespoons of olive oil and bay leaf. Before they have browned add a tablespoon of flour and stir well. Let the flour brown a little but not burn.
Now add the wine, clams, a pinch of salt (half dessert spoon), a little pepper and sprinkle with two tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley. Cover the pan and leave on medium heat for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes remove the lid and see which clams have opened and remove them from the pan. Once they have all opened and been removed, check if the green sauce needs salt.
Now let the sauce simmer a little more without the lid and the clams, we want to reduce the sauce so it becomes slightly thicker.
We must ensure that the sauce is well blended, so don't remove it from the heat until the sauce is nice and thick, we also want to make sure all the alcohol has evaporated. When the sauce is ready put the clams back in and mix well with the sauce. This will heat the clams up again and then serve immediately. Serve in a bowl and sprinkle with the remaining parsley and accompany it with a wedge of lemon. Some prefer that acidic touch to the sauce that the lemon gives, but I prefer it just as it is. What I will do from time to time is add a dried chili or two depending on the number of clams. This gives it a wonderful kick! You can add the chilli right at the beginning with the garlic, that way it will flavour the olive oil directly.
The last thing you must remember is to have plenty of crusty bread because once you have finished the clams there will be loads of delicious sauce to soak up!!
Enjoy!