Razor & Carpet Clams with Homemade Fettuccine
Recently I visited Southampton Farmers Market, which was held in Guildhall Square. Fishmongers Viviers Fish & Shellfish Merchants from Portsmouth had a stall there. They had a fantastic array of fish for sale; the slab full of mackerel, sole, bream, octopus and bass, to name just a few. Michael, the fishmonger on duty, was mentioning the fact that fishing the waters in the Solent and English Channel was tough at the moment, with European trawlers sucking up as much fish in one second as they could catch in one day.
Also on sale was a great selection of shellfish including whelks, mussels, oysters, carpet clams, lobsters, winkles and razor clams. I had eaten, but never prepared razor clams before, so I thought a self-taught masterclass would be appropriate. Armed with a bag of razor and carpet clams I ventured home and to the kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo Razor Clams
- 1 kilo Carpet Clams
- 1 large Onion
- 3 cloves Garlic
- Handful of Flat Parlsey
- Half a glass of White Wine
- 2 tablespoons of Vegetable / Sunflower / Canola Oil
- 200g Plain Flour
- 2 Eggs
- Salt & Pepper
Method
I had seen Razor Clams being prepared on a TV programm one time, probably by Rick Stein or Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall or Valentine Warner… In fact it could have been anybody, but I remember it being what seemed quite a straight forward process.
Firstly, I put about an inch or two of water into a steamer and brought it to the boil. The razor clams went in, the lid went on and were left for 5 minutes. They seemed to have actually plumped up in size, at that point I took them out of the steamer to cool down.
They came out of their shells quite easily. And it was revelaed how they got their name, as there is a razor-like quality to the shells on their own. Next step was to remove the digestive sack which is found in the middle section of the clam. It is mostly full of sand, so does need removing as it is not the sort of texture you will want in your dish. After that I cut the clams into bite size pieces.
To make the fettuccine, place the flour in a food mixer with a dough hook. Add the eggs and a pinch of salt and conbine the ingredients together to form a smooth dough. You can also easily do this in a bowl, by just getting your hands in. Wrap it in cling film and leave it to rest in your fridge for about 30 minutes. After it has rested, cut it in half and use a pasta mangle to roll the dough into thin stripes. When you are happy with the thickness, pass the pasta through the attachment that gives you fettuccine, but to be honest your preferred pasta shape would work equally as well.
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add your pasta. Fresh pasta will not take long, and about a minute before it is done, remove and drain, keeping some of the cooking liquor to one side.
Chop the onion, garlic and parsley stalks finely. Take a large pan that has a lid. Heat the oil to temprature, add the onion and garlic and gently soften them. Then add the carpet clams to the pan and pour in the wine. Place the lid on the pan and cook until the clams open.
When the carpet clams have opened, add the razor clams and pasta to the pan, along with a ladle of the pasta water. Place on the lid for a couple of minutes to finish cooking the pasta and to rewarm the razor clams. Chop your parsley leaves, stir into to the clams and pasta. Serve immediately.
