How to cook big mussels

 

Big Clams

Big Clams

Fasolari are Italian mussels that are very tasty. Bigger than usual clams the outside shell has a brown color, the inside has an orange yellow color. They are often not appreciated because the inside is bigger and harder to chew than the normal clams called vongole and often full of sand, although very tasty. I think this depends also that very often people can’t prepare them the proper way. Italy is a big producer of see farmed mussels, but when in Italy if you find the wild ones you will have an incredible experience in taste. Fasolari are not so easy to find and until recently they where not farmed. That said the other day i saw clams here in the U.S.A that looked similar to fasolari and not see farm raised. So i prepared them in a very particular way used by the fisherman on the Adriatic for fasolari, a special recipe you will not find on the internet, not even on Italian sites. This special recipe by chopping the clams meat, avoids the unpleasant look of the big clams inside and makes them easy to chew.

 

INGREDIENTS

10 big shells, two eggs, about 3 oz unseasoned bread crumbs, about 8 fl oz of oil for frying, salt, pepper

 RECIPE

Wash the clams. In a large pan with one finger high water make the clams open at medium heat. Once opened take the inside away and throw the shells. Chop it very thinly and add salt and pepper. Beat the two eggs and than start to make balls like you do for the fried rice balls. Dip first in the scrambled eggs than in the bread crumbs, than again in the egg and finish in the breadcrumbs. This double dipping makes a perfect coating. I use the same technique for fried rice balls and other fried food. For the frying i use extra virgin oil. Frying with it makes the food more tasty. Remember extra virgin oil is the only oil extracted naturally and is excellent for frying.

Buon appetito Tommaso

 

Big Clam  

Big Clam How to Cook

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