Easter is a great time to visit Kennedy Bay at low tide, enjoy the walk across the mudflats and find fifty clams each for a good feed. Every one calls them cockles but it seems that they are Southern Little Neck Clams I guess they sound a bit more upmarket as NZ now exports them all over the world. They have a real advantage over tuatuas as they don't need to be kept until they spit out any sand. You can eat them straight away or give them a scrub. Then put them, without water, into the fridge where they will keep for quite a while. Southern clams Ltd has a great website at http://www.nzclams.com/ It has some good recipes and lots of detail about the southern little neck clam.
If those recipes have no appeal try this Linguine con volgone, it is quick and tasty.
In olive oil fry some chopped garlic until soft and then add some finely chopped chilli or perhaps chilli flakes to give a gentle heat. Then add a few chopped skinned tomatoes and gently simmer for a few minutes. At this stage tip in the washed and scrubbed clams and continue to heat. Remove clams as they open and throw away any that remain closed after a few minutes of heating. The clams will have released a fair bit of water so there will be a thin sauce. Check the seasoning. It shouldn't need any salt. While this has been happening you will have cooked some linguine or other pasta to the stage you prefer and drained it and set it aside. Remove the clam flesh from the shells into a bowl. Then add the clams and the pasta to the sauce and heat for a minute or two. The pasta will absorb much of the water from the sauce and you will have made yourself a real gourmet meal! If you prefer it a little saltier then, next time you can add an anchovy at the garlic frying stage. This works just as well with mussels and you could add basil or oregano as well. Great served in a bowl with some warm crusty bread to mop up any juices!
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