Clams with corn, fregola and herbs

A vibrant mix of flavours, with a corn-and-miso base, vongole (clams) cooked in beer and tender fregola all topped with a fresh assortment of soft herbs.

Credit: Danielle Abou Karam

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 cobs corn, husks and silks removed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 25 g butter
• ½ brown onion, chopped
• ½ large leek, pale end only, washed and thinly sliced
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• sea salt, to taste
• 2 tsp white (shiro) miso
• 70 g (⅓ cup) fregola
• 600-800 g vongole or pippies
• 1 long green or red chili, thinly sliced
• 100 ml beer
• 50 ml pouring cream
• mixed soft herbs (parsley, coriander, basil, tarragon, chives and chervil)
• black pepper, to taste
• squeeze of lime juice
  
  

Instructions

1. Stand the corn cobs upright on your chopping board (in a bowl if you want to stop the kernels going everywhere) and cut the kernels off. Scrape the cobs with the back of a knife to extract the “milk” and set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large heavy–based frying pan over low heat. Cook the onion, leek and celery with a pinch of salt for 10-15 minutes or until soft, but not coloured. 
3. Add the corn and corn milk to the pan with a pinch of salt and cook for another 8-10 minutes. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the miso.
4. Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the fregola and simmer until al dente. Drain and set aside.
5. Increase the heat in the pan to high. Add the vongole and chilli and pour the beer over the top. Immediately cover the pan with a lid and cook, shaking the pan for a few minutes or just until the vongole open. Stir in the fregola.
6. To serve, drizzle the cream over the top. Top with soft herbs, a little black pepper and a squeeze of lime juice.

 

Photography by Danielle Abou Karam.

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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.