I can't believe I haven't put anything on here for ages! I really need to do something about that. A few weeks ago I wen't to Italy with my husband and had one of the best holidays I have ever had! We went to this beautiful island called Ischia and we had some of the best food I've ever had in my life, and I've eaten some pretty amazing food! Everything was so fresh and vibrant and I just couldn't stop myself. But there was one dish I had 3 times in the four days I was there, Sautè di vongole con crostini di pane. It sounds really fancy but it is one of the easiest dishes you will ever make.
During our trip we met this Italian family who run a restaurant called American Pub Auras. Don't be fooled by the American title, they do serve some American style food but they make the best Italian food, especially the seafood. In their kitchen, chef Caterina runs the show and I was so lucky to get this secret (not anymore) recipe and every time I've made it, people don't believe how easy it is.
I even made this in one of my cooking lessons and this is what one of my students sent me the day after:
"Can't quite believe that something so quick and relatively simple is so tasty, posh and that I made it!"
So if you are after a dish to impress, this is the one!
The recipe is for two people as a main dish and 4 as a starter.
1 kg clams
3 cloves of garlic
1 glass of white wine
¼ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
small handful flat leaf parsley
salt
olive oil
1/3 ciabatta loaf or similar tough bread
Start by getting all your ingredients ready because when you start cooking you need to act quite quicly.
Rinse the clams with cold water. Go through them and make sure they are all closed. If any of them are open, tap them on the table and if they don’t close you need to throw them away.
Finely slice the garlic.
Finely chop the parsley.
Get out a frying pan, put some olive oil in it and it needs to be around 1 cm deep. Don't use any fancy oil because cooking with it like this will ruin all the benefits of it so best to use a cheaper and lighter version. Put the pan on medium heat. Finely slice the ciabatta and fry in the oil until golden. Remove from the oil and leave on some kitchen paper.
Get a saucepan with a lid and use a little of the oil from the bread. Put the pan on medium heat and cook the garlic for 1 minute.
Throw in the clams, wine, chilli flakes and a tiny bit of salt, put the lid on and give it a little shake. Do not use more chilli then what the recipe says because this should not be hot, just have a little bit of heat in the background.
Leave the pan on medium heat and give it a shake a few times while the clams cook. Depending on the heat and the size of the clams they should cook in 3-7 minutes. As soon as they have all opened remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.
Remove the clams from the pan with a slotted spoon and put them in a big serving dish. Take the bread and break into smaller pieces and put in with the clams.
Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if needed. Pour the sauce over the clams and bread and serve immediately.
With this there is only one other thing you need, a large glass of crips white wine :)
I want to leave a few pictures from our holiday, if you ever get the chance to go to Ischia you won't be disappointed!
This is the view from the restaurant, absolutely beautiful!
Enjoying lunch with my gorgeous friend who lives in Ischia and knows all the best places to eat!
When you get seafood so fresh, all you need is a lemon and you're in heaven!
We ate in this ladies restaurant and the food was just amazing! She even offered me to come back any time and spend some time in the kitchen with her.
You can't come to Italy without having a proper gelato :)
How beautiful is this view?!!