How to clean cockles
Cockles are bivalve molluscs belonging to the Veneridae family (genus Callista) . The appearance resembles that of clams, with a pinkish brown shell on the outside and which, on the inside, resembles porcelain.
Cockles can reach up to 10 cm in diameter, but it is preferable to buy them around 6 or 7 cm . One of the distinctive features of cockles is represented by having a bright red foot inside.
If you want to taste fresh cockles of the highest quality you can buy Nieddittas ones and with the Nieddittas a Domicilio service you can bring fresh Sardinian fish to your home in numerous Italian locations.
In this article, we will see how to clean cockles step by step, what the nutritional values of these seafood are and finally we will focus on 3 simple and delicious recipes to prepare with cockles.
How to clean cockles step by step
In the same way as oysters , the cockles must be opened and cleaned from raw , otherwise the organoleptic characteristics will change.
To clean them you will need a knife with a thin and resistant blade, possibly with a rounded tip.
Place the blade of the knife between the two shells of the cockles and, holding the shell firmly with the palm of your hand , press with your finger until the blade is inserted between the two shells.
This point is important to evaluate the level of freshness of the cockles, which should be alive . When the cockles are alive, their valves are well sealed and retain all the liquids inside: this means that you will need to apply enough pressure to open them. If not, throw away the seafood as it may be dead and not fresh enough.
After inserting the knife blade between the shells, push it all the way down and then work sideways until the shells open completely. It’s best to do this over a bowl, so you can collect the delicious liquid inside the shells . You can then use this water to further flavor your preparations.
Once the valves have been opened, cut away the gray skin and the intestinal sac , containing sand and small pebbles that will cause discomfort during consumption. Finally, completely detach the seafood from the shell.
You can either consume the cockles raw , perhaps seasoning them with a few drops of lemon juice , or enjoy the cockles cooked, according to one of the recipes that we will propose at the end of the article. However, if you want to savor the cockles when cooked, you must remember to soften the bright red foot with the help of a meat tenderizer . Otherwise, it could be annoying and ruin the taste of your preparation.
The nutritional values of cockles
Now that we have seen how to clean cockles, let’s briefly discover what the nutritional values of these seafood are.
Cockles are a food perfectly suited to low-calorie diets , as they provide just over 50 Kcal. In addition, they contain a particularly small amount of lipids.
In particular, here are the nutritional values per 100 g of edible product:
- Protein: 8.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 1 g
- Lipids: 0.47 g
- Magnesium: 20.5 mg
- Iron: 2.0 mg
- Zinc: 1.25 mg
3 Ideas for recipes with cockles
To conclude, here are 3 ideas for simple but tasty recipes to prepare with cockles.
- Spaghetti with cockles
To prepare spaghetti with cockles you will need, in addition to the Nieddittas cockles and spaghetti , an onion , some parsley , a handful of cherry tomatoes , a little white wine, a clove of garlic , some coarse salt (for pasta water) and extra virgin olive oil .
After cleaning and cooking the cockles, brown some onion in plenty of oil, add some chopped parsley and add the cherry tomatoes for about 2 minutes.
Add everything together with the pasta, also adding the liquid coming from the fisolari valves (naturally only after having carefully filtered it).
- Cockles with vegetables
After cleaning the cockles, cook them together with peppers cut into pieces and chopped onion , also adding a little flour and some aromatic herbs .
- Grilled cockles
Finally, to prepare the scallops au gratin you simply have to place the fruits on a baking tray covered with baking paper and season them with a mixture of breadcrumbs, chopped garlic, extra virgin olive oil, chopped parsley, salt and pepper . Cook them for about 20 minutes and enjoy them with your friends and relatives.
