Tart London: How to make a feast of mussels and clams

Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison serve up a feast of mussels and clams under the Tuscan sun

We’re currently holding our first-ever Tart yoga retreat in Mallorca and, in the run-up, we did a bit of research by visiting a boot camp in Tuscany. The camp location was the most beautiful house in the countryside, where the food is delicious and super healthy. But on the final night of our recce, we did a Tart takeover and had to cook one dish that would be Italian but healthy and celebratory. We felt quite nervous — the food had been so good that the pressure was really on! Our fellow guests included loads of beautiful healthy women and a Premier League footballer. After a lot of thinking, we decided on this recipe. There is something magnificent about the shells piled high yet they are relatively inexpensive in the fish world.

Mussels and clams can be intimidating to prep but it’s pretty easy. For the mussels, you can ask the fishmonger to clean and de-beard, but it’s also fine to do at home. Simply empty the mussels into the sink and discard any that are cracked or open. Under running water, pull hard at the beard (the stuff hanging out of the shell). For the clams, you’ll need to rinse them and leave in unsalted water for 20 minutes before cooking. Ocado also does good pre-cooked clams that, once defrosted, can be added to the stew and served straight away.

In Tuscany, we served the dish with red rice which has a delicious nutty flavour. If making it at home, we would serve with toasted sourdough on the side for mopping up the juices. We added the aioli as a little Tarty treat. After feeling so nervous about it, everyone had seconds — and the best part is the football player asked for the recipe. Success!

Mussels and clams

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 large knob of butter

Good glug of olive oil

3 shallots, finely chopped

1 leek, finely chopped

1 large fennel, cut in half and finely sliced

4 or 5 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 tsp chilli flakes

Bunch of thyme — remove woody stalks

Bunch of sage, finely chopped

Bunch of rosemary, left on stalks

Bottle of white wine

900ml fish stock

400g sweet Italian baby tomatoes

Bunch of basil, chopped

Bunch of parsley, chopped

500g mussels

500g clams

1 lemon, zest and juice

Aioli

1 free-range egg yolk

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

Juice of half a lemon

1 garlic clove, crushed

Sea salt and black pepper

150ml light olive oil

Method

Melt the butter and the olive oil over a medium heat in a large pan.

Add the shallots, leeks, fennel, garlic, chilli, thyme, sage and rosemary to the pan and sauté until they start to caramelise.

Add the white wine and fish stock then simmer for about 10 minutes to let the alcohol burn off. Turn off the heat, add the tomatoes, lemon zest and juice. Leave to stand for at least 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the aioli. Add the egg yolk, wholegrain mustard, lemon juice and garlic to a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Very slowly, drizzle in the olive oil while whisking by hand or with an electric whisk until it comes together and forms a mayonnaise.

Bring the onion and tomato mixture back to the boil and add the clams and mussels. Simmer for about 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are cooked. The shells should all be open (if any are tightly closed, discard).

Divide between bowls and sprinkle with the chopped basil and parsley. Add a generous spoonful of the aioli to serve.

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