Rachel Khoo recipes: Garlic clams with soda bread

I recently spent a couple of weeks in Portugal indulging in one of my new favourite pastimes, surfing. Being on the Atlantic coast, I was not only blessed with some excellent waves, but a bounty of sea creatures to tuck into. Clams and cockles were often on the menu with heaps of garlic. I’ve added a soda bread recipe to soak up those lovely juices.

Garlic clams with speedy soda bread

Ingredients (Serves 4)

250g wholemeal flour

250g plain flour

1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda

¾ tsp salt

10g soft light brown sugar

300ml buttermilk

1 tbsp milk

20g porridge oats

For the clams

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped

Pinch of salt

125ml dry white wine

1.2kg clams, washed

Handful of finely chopped parsley

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan). In a large bowl, mix the flours with the bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar. Whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk with 150ml water, pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir to combine. Dust the work surface with extra flour and knead the dough into a large round loaf (it will be quite sticky). Place on a lined baking tray. Use a sharp knife to cut a deep cross in the top. Brush with the milk and scatter the porridge oats on top. Place in the oven for 40 minutes and remove when the top is crusty and when you flip it over and tap the base it sounds hollow. Set aside on a wire rack to cool.