Get Premium access to all the latest content online
Subscribe and view full print editions online... Subscribe
Cockles cooked in white wine with cannellini beans, pancetta and torn croutons
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 30ml olive oil
- 100g stale white bread, torn into fingernail-sized pieces
- 25g smoked pancetta, chopped into thin strips (about 4 slices)
- ½ small onion, peeled and finely diced
- ½ small red chilli, finely chopped (remove the seeds if you don’t want it too hot)
- ½ bay leaf
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
- 100ml dry white wine
- 100g dry cannellini beans, cooked, or 1 x 400g can of cooked cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 500g cockles, purged handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Method
Heat half the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the bread and sauté until golden and crisp while shaking the pan, then transfer to some paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Heat the remaining oil in a pan large enough to hold the cockles. Add the pancetta and gently sauté while stirring until it starts to brown and crisp. Add the onion, chilli, bay leaf and garlic, cooking while stirring until the onion is soft and translucent (about 5-6 minutes). Increase the heat and add the white wine and 50ml water. Bring to the boil and leave to bubble for a couple of minutes before adding the beans and cockles. Cover with a lid and cook, shaking every few moments until all the cockles have opened (about 4-5 minutes). Before serving, remove any cockles that haven’t opened and discard. Transfer to a serving dish then scatter the croutons and parsley over top.
Advertisement