Scallops and Razor Clams

Name: Scallops and Razor Clams
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 8 king scallops, out of shell and cleaned; salt and pepper; salt and pepper; 8 slices of good-quality cured ham (Parma, Coppa or Iberico), chopped into slivers; 8 slices of good-quality cured ham (Parma, Coppa or Iberico), chopped into slivers; 8 slices of good-quality cured ham (Parma, Coppa or Iberico), chopped into slivers; 8 slices of good-quality cured ham (Parma, Coppa or Iberico), chopped into slivers; 12 razor clams, in shell; 175 ml oloroso sherry; ½ tsp smoked paprika; 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; best-quality extra virgin olive oil; 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Cooks Country

By Matt Tebbutt

Published 2008

About

It upsets me to walk along a beach, crunching razor-clam shells underfoot and then not being able to find a seaside restaurant that serves them. If you are digging for the clams yourself, it can be great fun but a bit tricky. Find their blow-holes in the sand and pour some salt water in: it should make them rise to the surface.

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
best-quality extra virgin olive oil
8 slices of good-quality cured ham (Parma

Method

Soak the razor clams in salted water for 1 hour, then rinse them well in cold, running water for 10 minutes to remove any sand, discarding any that don’t close when handled.

Have 2 frying pans hot and ready to go. In the first pan, fry off the garlic slivers in some of the olive oil for a minute to extract the flavour but not too far, as they may blacken. If this happens, discard and st