Creamy Clams with Spaghetti

Creamy and warming, this is a favourite weeknight meal as it takes 15 minutes to make.

Cooked frozen clams vacuum packed in their shell are so handy for the freezer and defrost in less than half an hour when put (in their bag) in a sink of cold water. Put together with a garlic, parsley and cream sauce served on spaghetti tastes restaurant worthy and is perfect for this (still cold) weather.

In our house, we tend to have mussels about once a fortnight, but recently I have moved onto clams. They are more delicate, low in fat and are naturally high in iron and vitamin B12.

Ingredients:     (serves 2)

500g defrosted clams in shell
1 banana shallot (or 1 small onion)
1 clove garlic, sliced thinly
1 tbsp. dried parsley
glass of white wine
100ml double cream
200g spaghetti

Method:

Boil a large pan of water. When boiling, put in the spaghetti.

While the spaghetti is boiling, chop and fry the shallot and garlic in 1 tbsp. olive oil. Add the wine and cook on high for two minutes, lower the heat and add the cream and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the clams to warm through and stir.

When the pasta is al dente, add the creamy clams, stir to combine and serve.

That's it! It really doesn't need anything else. Other than maybe some bread and butter on the side to mop up any creamy remaining sauce. Delicious!