Gnocchi with clams flavoured with mint and lemon
In summer my gluttony does not go on holiday and in this period seafood are among my favourite ingredients because they allow me to prepare delicious courses that, adding some fresh notes, are particularly suitable for the current season, just like these gnocchi with clams flavoured with mint and lemon.
My holidays are still far away and it’s nice to find the scent of the sea in what I cook, then dreaming about eating in a cosy pretty spot with a view of the blue, near the beach …
Greece, Sardinia, Seychelles?
With my imagination I can get to any enchanting place …
Some tricks before directions
Buy live clams, with their shells intact and well closed.
Before being cooked, you need to purge clams in plenty of cold salted water for at least 2-3 hours, if you exceed this time you must first rinse them and then change their water.
To drain the clams, use a generous spoon of coarse sea salt for each liter of water (pour the water in a container, add the salt and stir to dissolve it, then dip the seafood).
If it is very hot, cover the container and put it in the fridge.
Even if you purged your clams, some of them could keep inside some sand, for this reason I always prefer to make them open on the fire and filter their water before using them in any preparation.
But if you want to speed up the time you can make them open directly in the pan with the browned shallot and then simmer with the white wine.
Gnocchi with clams flavoured with mint and lemon recipe
Calories: 446 kcal
Ingredients
Serves 2- 500 gr of clams
- 350 gr of potato gnocchi
- A teaspoon of chopped shallot
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 20 ml of white wine
- 4 mint leaves
- 2 zest of an organic lemon
- Parsley as required
- Salt and pepper as required
Directions
Rinse your clams under cold flowing water and let them drain in plenty of cold salted water for 2-3 hours, after this time rinse them again and transfer them to a large pan.
Place the pan on high heat and cover with a lid, wait about two minutes then move the clams, cover again and wait a further minute (the time necessary for the shells to open).
As soon as the clams are opened, pick them up with a perforated ladle and place them in a bowl, filter the remaining water in the pan through a thin sieve or a gauze to remove any residual sand.
In a large pan brown your shallot gently with extra virgin olive oil, then add the clams and raise the heat, wait a few seconds, pour the white wine and let it reduce.
Add their water to the clams, wait a few moments, then turn off the heat.
Rinse an organic lemon, cut two long little stripes of zest using a potato peeler with a soft hand trying to cut only the most external and yellow layer of the peel (the white part below is bitter).
Cut the zest into long thin stripes.
Rinse, dry and chop your mint leaves together with your parsley leaves.
Cook your gnocchi in plenty of boiling salted water and, as they rise to the surface, collect them with a perforated ladle and place them in the pan together with the clams.
Quickly stir-fry your gnocchi with the clams, then add the lemon zest, the chopped herbs and pepper to taste.
Plate and serve your gnocchi with clams flavored with lemon and mint.
