foodwineclick

Steamers are easy and quick. Simply add your favorite Crémant, a green salad and a really good quality baguette and you are all set!

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• Handful of basil (hopefully fresh from your herb garden), sliced finely, chiffonade style
• 4 oz. dry white wine
• 2-3 lbs fresh clams and/or mussels – depending on how much you love shellfish
• 1/2 loaf crusty baguette or french bread, sliced thickly.

Instructions

• If you’re serving with salad and bread, make sure the salad is made and the bread is sliced before you start to cook.
• Just before you start, rinse the clams to remove any residual sand.  Remove any remaining “beards” sticking out, especially with mussels.  Set the clams and mussels aside.
• In the pot you will steam the clams, start by browning the onions in the EVOO on a medium-low heat, about 5 minutes.
• Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, only 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Add the tomatoes and white wine, turn the heat up to high and cover the pot.
• Once the pot is steaming, dump all the clams in at once and cover the pot.  While steaming, monitor the pot every few minutes to ensure you don’t boil away all the liquid.  You don’t want to drown the clams, but you don’t want to run out of liquid.  If needed, add another splash of white wine.
• Steam until the clams have opened up.  This can take anywhere from 5 – 15 minutes, depending on how large your clams are.
• Once you are done steaming, toss the basil in and mix it about a bit.
• Remove the clams with a slotted spoon to a large bowl or bucket.  Serve the steaming liquid in individual bowls, it’s great for dunking your bread and it’s full of great tasting onions, tomatoes and basil.