Life All Travel Destinations Entertaining Food All Chefs Recipes Restaurants Wine Pairing Food News Wine All Wine 101 Wine News Wine Regions Wine Varietals Wineries Home > Selector Magazine > Food > Shane Delia’s grilled clams with chickpeas, basturma and fennel Food Shane Delia’s grilled clams with chickpeas, basturma and fennel Preparation time Cooking time Serves 4 Ingredients 500g strawberry clams 140g unsalted butter 1 clove garlic, crushed 4 slices basturma 100g tinned chickpeas, drained 1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed ½ tsp aleppo pepper 50g finely shaved fennel 1 lemon, juice only ¼ tsp sea salt 1 tsp chopped dill Method Soak the clams in cold water for 3 hours prior to use – this will purge the clams and get rid of any sand and grit they may have inside. Drain well. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large heavy-based saucepan. Add the garlic, basturma, chickpeas, fennel seeds and aleppo pepper, then remove the pan from the heat and leave the flavours to infuse. Meanwhile, cook diced bacon in a dry frying pan until crisp. Drain on paper towel. Cook the clams in a hot chargrill pan until they open up. This should only take about 3–5 minutes. By this stage the clams should have opened up. Test the clam meat with the tip of a knife – it should be firm but not rubbery. Add the clams to the butter mixture and return to the heat. Add the shaved fennel and lemon juice and toss through the clams, then cook over low heat until the fennel starts to wilt. Season with salt. Fold through the dill and serve. Note: Strawberry clams are seasonal. Ask your fishmonger to order them for you, or use razor clams, surf clams or vongole. Basturma can be found at selected delis or substituted with prosciutto. Aleppo pepper can be substituted with dry roasted chilli flakes. This intensifies the flavour. Food Serves 4 Shop Dessert Wine Discover more Dessert recipes Food Dave Pynt And The Fires Of Creation Words by Nick Ryan on 7 Jan 2025 Food Chocolate soufflé with Shiraz syrup Food Madeleines with chocolate cherry sauce & candied orange praline