White wine clams

Chef and television host Mark Olive shares his method for cooking clams with Indigenous Australian flavours: lemon myrtle, sea parsley and lemon aspen syrup bring a delightful freshness to the creamy sauce, perfect for dunking with crusty bread.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ½ cup lemon myrtle leaves
• 1.5 kg vongole clams
• 50 g butter, diced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 eschallots, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 ml) dry white wine
• 2 cups (500 ml) thickened cream
• ½ bunch sea parsley, finely chopped, plus extra sprigs to serve (see Note)
• ¼ bunch chives, finely sliced, plus extra to serve
• 1 lemon, halved
• 50 ml lemon aspen syrup
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 toasted baguette, mixed green salad leaves, to serve

Instructions

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, then add 6-8 lemon myrtle leaves. Set a large steamer on top of the simmering water. Fill the steamer over the double boiler with the clams and a few extra lemon myrtle leaves. Steam until the shells open.
2. Melt the butter over medium heat in a second large saucepan. Drizzle with the olive oil, then add the eschallots and cook for 2 minutes, or until translucent. Add a few lemon myrtle leaves from the steamer along with the garlic. Cook for 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add half the wine, then bring to the boil. Add half the cream, followed by the remaining wine and cream. Reduce to a slow simmer. Stir through the herbs and cook for 2 further minutes.
3. Squeeze over the lemon juice, then stir through the lemon aspen syrup. Add the steamed clams to the sauce and stir to combine. Transfer the white wine clams to a large serving plate and pour over the sauce.
4. Sprinkle the clams with extra herbs. Serve with crusty bread and mixed salad leaves on the side.

Note

• If sea parsley is not available, you can substitute it with flat-leaf parsley.
• Lemon Aspen is an indigenous Australian fruit with a citrus flavour, underpinned by notes of eucalypt and menthol. The syrup is available from specialist grocers or online. Mark Olive also uses it in his recipe for prawn cocktail with lemon aspen mayonnaise.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.