Spanish clams in green sauce

Almejas en salsa verde are the Basque Country’s green-jacketed clams: steamed open in a parsley-loaded sauce of garlic, white wine and olive oil, lightly thickened so it clings to every shell.

The salsa verde here is nothing like the Mexican one — it is Spain’s northern classic, the same emerald sauce that dresses hake in San Sebastián’s finest kitchens, built on a delicate garlic roux.

It is a dish of technique more than ingredients: garlic never browned, flour cooked just enough, wine whisked smooth. Master those three minutes and you own a Basque classic.

Almejas en Salsa Verde Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes · Cook time: 10 minutes · Total: 30 minutes · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~119 per serving

Ingredients

• 2 pounds fresh clams, cleaned and scrubbed
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dry white wine
• ½ cup fish or clam stock (or water)
• ½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley, plus more to garnish
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)

Instructions

1. Scrub the clams and discard any cracked or stubbornly open ones.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook the garlic about 1 minute — fragrant, never browned.
3. Stir in the flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes into a light roux.
4. Whisk in the wine slowly to avoid lumps and simmer 2 minutes.
5. Add the clams and stock, cover, and steam over medium-high 5 to 7 minutes, until open. Discard any that stay closed.
6. Stir in the parsley, season, and add the lemon juice if using. Let the sauce thicken to coating consistency.
7. Serve immediately, generously sauced, with crusty bread.

Recipe Notes

• A txakoli or Albariño is the natural wine, in the pan and the glass.
• The same sauce is glorious with hake or monkfish — the Basque merluza en salsa verde.
• The parsley goes in at the end to keep the green vivid.