Basque style Clams & Chorizo in Garlic Broth
Recommended wines: Dandelion Vineyards Riesling Eden Valley Australia or Domaine de la Mordoree Cotes du Rhone Rosé. In lieu of these a good rule for matching food and wine is to drink the wine from the region of the cuisine, in this case Basque country. We happen to have a wonderful pair of wines from Getaria near San Sebastian. the wine are called Txacolina ("cha-ko-leena") the Txomin Etxaniz white and Txomin Etxaniz roséwith wonderful fruit and mineral notes with a brisk acidity and a touch of effervesence which blasts through the smoky garlicy seafood flavors of this dish.
This cooks up in minutes in a single pot so clean up is easy too. It's a nice alternative to the typical steamed mussels dish. Don't forget the parsley,it give a nice high note.
About Chorizo: If you get fresh chorizo take off the skin and crumble the meat in the pan. be sure to cook it through. Its the cooked variety you don't have to worry about underdone meat so just brown it a touch and sweat some of the delicious spicy oil out of it. If you want to cut down on the fat you can get away with just the sausage oil and no additional olive oil for cooking the garlic and onion. If you can get Spanish Chorizo you can improvise with Andouille or even Kielbasa, just add a good hit of fresh paprika and a LITTLE ground cayenne.
recipe: adapted from Winespector.com
1 sliced up loaf French or Italian bread
1/2 pound Chorizo about 2 sausages
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup white wine
6 small Yukon gold or small red skin potatoes, thinly sliced
30 littleneck clams, cleaned
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
Olive oil
1. Paint bread slices lightly with good olive oil and ightly toast the 400F oven. This step is optional, you can attack the bread with your bare hands after the dish is served.
2. Using a heavy saucepan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and saute chopped up Chorizo till brown. Remove Chorizo and leave the fat in the pan.
3. Saute onions til soft about 2 minutes then add garlic and saute very briefly.
4. Deglaze pan with 1 cup white wine, when the mixture begins to boil add potatoes and cook on low, covered, about 10 more minutes. Check potatoes for doneness with a fork.
5. Add clams to broth and cook on low til they open, about 5 minutes. Throw out unopened clams. Add back the Chorizo and parsley and stir to combine the flavors.
6. Divide into four shallow soup bowls and serve with toasted bread slices
Add the clams to the covered pot and continue to cook until the clams have fully opened, around 4 to 6 minutes. Turn off the heat and discard any clams that have not fully opened. Add the parsley and the cooked chorizo to the pot and stir. Adjust the seasoning of the broth with salt. Divide the clams and broth mixture into 4 bowls. Serve with bread and wine.
