Make sure your razor clams are alive and bought from a reputable fishmonger. If you can't get razor clams, use a mixture of clams such as Venus, Surf, Amande or Palourde instead. You can use fresh spaghetti, if you wish.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1kg of fresh razor clams
2 shallots finely chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
200ml dry white wine
300g dried spaghetti
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves crushed
1-2 red chillies to taste - chopped
Salt & pepper
Rinse the razor clams in cold water. Sweat the shallots in a large pan with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the clams and turn up the heat. Pour in the wine and cover tightly. After 3 or 4 minutes, shake the pan and check the clams. The exact time they take to cook will depend on the variety used.
As soon as the clams are open, take the pan off the heat - they go chewy if overcooked. Drain in a colander set over a bowl to collect all the juices. Pick out the flesh of the clams - leave a few in their shell for garnish - and remove the little sand bag or intestine at the base of each meaty mollusc. Pass the cooking juices through a fine sieve and boil until reduced by half.
Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water until al dente, then drain and return to the pan. In another pan, reheat the clams in the reduced juice, and add the oil, chopped parsley, garlic and chillies. Pour this mixture into the pasta and toss everything together. Check for seasoning, then garnish each bowl with some clams in the shell and serve immediately.
Lamb Tajine
Ingredients
1 boned lamb shoulder
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 onions chopped
2 teaspoons of turmeric
2 teaspoons of coriander seeds, crushed
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 lemon cut into 8 wedges
1 tablespoon honey
300ml chicken or vegetable stock
50 g whole blanched almonds, toasted
Preheat the oven to 140ºC/Gas 1. Cut the lamb into 3cm chunks. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron casserole dish and pan-fry until golden.
Add the garlic, onions and spices to the dish and continue to cook and stir over a medium heat for about 15 minutes.
Add the lemon, honey and stock to the dish and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour.
Stir in the toasted almonds and serve in traditional tajine dishes if you have them.
Grilled Kid, Provence Style
Like new season lamb, kid (young goat) is a traditional Easter treat in the South of France and the milky white meat lends itself to Provençal flavours. My preferred way to cook Kid is to poach it first, then grill it on a charcoal grill or barbecue. Otherwise cook the kid in the oven and finish it under the grill to get a lovely and crisp golden brown exterior.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 leg of Kid on the bone
1 shoulder of Kid
1 onion peeled and quartered
4 bay leaves
1 bunch of Sarriette (summer savory)
1 garlic bulb
1 piment d'Espelette (whole dried chilli)
1 bunch of parsley
1 tsp ground piment d'Espelette (chilli powder)
2 tbsp acacia honey
60g green olives, pitted & chopped
60g black olives, pitted & chopped
200ml olive oil
6 salted anchovy fillets chopped
zest & juice of 1 lemon
2 spring onions thinly sliced
2 sprigs of rosemary
salt
black pepper
Place the leg and shoulder in a pan, cover with cold water and season with salt. Add the onion, 2 of the bay leaves, the sarriette, 6 cloves of garlic, the dried chilli split in half and the parsley stalks, saving the leaves for later. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer the meat very gently for 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool.
Chop the remaining garlic and bay leaves and put them in a bowl with the chopped parsley leaves, chilli powder, honey, green and black olives, olive oil, anchovies, lemon zest and juice and spring onions. This should make a thick sauce, but add a little of the cooking liquid if you need to moisten it.
Blitz a third of the sauce to form a paste in a blender - I like to leave the rest chunky to serve with the meat. Remove the kid from the stock and pat it dry.. Lightly score the skin with a thin-bladed sharp knife and rub some of the paste onto the meat. Cover and repeat after an hour.
If using a charcoal grill or barbecue, it's important to cook the meat slowly and gently. Dip the rosemary fronds into the remaining paste and use them to baste the meat with regularly, until it's golden and crisp on the outside and succulent within. Over a gentle heat it should take no more than 45 minutes. If cooking on the oven, cook at 200º C/Fan 180º C/Gas 6 - the time will be about the same.
Serve with some roasted baby new potatoes and a few salad leaves. The sauce will be sufficient dressing.
