Clams with Tarragon and Parsley

During the big tides, my parents and I love going clam and cockle fishing and then enjoying our catch at the table. The hardest part is always choosing the recipe.

When it’s time to cook the clams, we often prepare classic dishes like spaghetti alle vongole or stuffed clams with butter, garlic, and parsley. This time, we tried a recipe that is a bit more original and much lighter than alle vongole pasta or stuffed clams, although we still love the melted butter and clam juice, of course.

If you’re short on time, this clam recipe is super simple and quick to make. You just put everything in a pan, cover it, and wait.

The clams with tarragon and parsley recipe is very close to the classic marinière style, except it uses a lot of tarragon and a little parsley. Tarragon is an herb that really brings out the flavor of fish dishes, and its aniseed taste pairs beautifully with the sweet and briny flavor of clams.

To add more character to the broth, you can use an unusual pepper. For this recipe, I use Roellinger’s Java long pepper, which is very fragrant and only mildly spicy, with warm and slightly sweet notes of cinnamon, anise, and licorice. Infused in the broth, it goes perfectly with the slightly sweet clam meat and the anise flavors of the tarragon. The result is a delicious, herbal, and aromatic broth.

You can serve the clams as a starter or a main dish, accompanied by French fries.

 
 
 
 

Ingredients for 4 people :

  • 1.2 kg clams

  • 2 shallots

  • 50 g butter

  • Dry white wine (for example Muscadet)

  • Fresh cream

  • Pepper, you can use a fragrant and unique pepper

  • A good bunch of tarragon

  • Parsley

  • 1 clove of garlic

Preparing the clams :

Soak the clams in a mixture of water and coarse salt to remove any sand. After clam fishing, let them soak for at least 2 hours.

Clean the clams well to remove any impurities from the shells.

Recipe :

Clean the herbs, strip the tarragon leaves from the stems, and finely chop the parsley.

Thinly slice the shallots.

In a pan, melt the butter and sauté the shallots for 2 minutes over medium heat.

Add the clams to the pan, pour in a glass of white wine, add three-quarters of the tarragon and parsley leaves, season with pepper, then cover the pan.

Wait for the clams to open, stirring occasionally, then stop cooking as soon as all the clams have opened.

Serve the clams with the broth in deep plates, garnish with the remaining fresh herbs.

Accompany the clams with golden roasted potatoes.

Enjoy with a nice glass of white wine.