A super healthy sea-inspired recipe which combines two fantastic products from the north of Spain: Galician cockles and Basque hake.
Let’s get one thing straight. Those little humble cockles are gold. If there would be scarce they would cost a fortune. Probably as much as oysters. But they’re not. That’s why they’re cheap as chips. Even the ones coming from Galicia, which are simply the best in Spain.
And what about the hake? Such an incredible fish and yet so underrated in Britain. But why? I remember a chat with my fishmonger telling me that he couldn’t bring hake on a regular basis because not enough people would buy it. So that’s the story, a catch often fished in British waters but going all to France and Spain, where it is much more appreciated on the dining tables.
The recipe today combines these two gems: the cockles and the hake medallions. If I would be in Spain I would use Basque hake or even pescadilla (a smaller variety of hake) from the Cantábrico. But I’m in London and I’m using British hake – and Cumbrian cockles for the record – as it should be.
Not big secrets for this recipe. The only bit that requires some attention is binding the sauce properly, until we get a velvety texture of almost jelly consistency. Other than that, this is quick and easy to do, healthy and delicious to eat.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 medallions Hake – approx. 200g each
- 500 g Cockles
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 tbsp Plain flour
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 225 ml White wine – that is one glass approx.
- 2 units Spring onion
- Salt
METHOD
- Place the cockles in a cooking pot together with the white wine. Cover and cook over a medium heat until the cockles open. Then strain the broth and take the cockles off their shells. Reserve.
- Chop the garlic and cook it for a minute in a hot frying pan with a bit of olive oil. Add the flour and cook it for another minute.
- Pour the cockles broth into the pan and reduce it for some few minutes over a medium heat until the consistency of the sauce gets thicker. Add the cockles into the pan, bring to boil and take the pan off the heat. Keep warm.
- Season the hake medallions and oil them on both sides. Cook them in a pan for three minutes on each side.
- Place the hake medallions on a serving plate, spread some finely chopped spring onion over and cover with the cockles sauce before serving.
Some ideas for side dishes to be served together with this recipe are:
- Potatoes (boiled, fried, souffle…)
- Pulses (rice, couscous…)
- Greens (spinach, baked courgette, lentils…)
