Steamed seafood with samphire

Serves 4-6

A simple plate of mixed, steaming seafood makes a great sharing centrepiece for the table. I've used a mixture of samphire and rock samphire here which you can find growing wild by the sea or buy from a good fishmonger or greengrocer. The season is coming to an end, so grab it while you can.

The selection of shellfish can depend on what's available, but cockles, mussels, raw prawns and razor clams would make a good start. Various types of clam, pieces of lobster, crab claws and langoustines will help to create a beautiful visual feast.

You could also turn this into a seafood salad by cooking everything in advance, and leaving it to cool. Then drizzle with olive oil mixed with a little good quality wine vinegar and maybe add some chopped herbs such as chervil or fennel.

10-15 medium sized whole raw prawns
300-400g mussels
400-500g cockles and/or clams
6 razor clams or langoustines
150-200g samphire
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
50ml white wine

If you are using cockles they will need a good wash in running water for about 20 minutes. Stir them around with your hand every so often so they release sand particles from the shells.

Put the cockles and/or clams in a large pot with the mussels and prawns and any other shell fish you are using. Add the white wine and samphire, season and cook on a high heat with a lid on for 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan every so often, until the mussels and cockles are open. Serve immediately with some warm crusty bread. Or, if you want to have less to do at the last minute, leave it to cool and serve as a seafood salad.