Clam Soup

Ingredients for 4 people:

1.200 kg quite large clams	100 g extra-virgin olive oil
30 g parsley, finely chopped	2 cloves of garlic
some slices of bread	salt and pepper
300 g fresh red tomatoes, peeled and chopped

Preparation

Wash the clams with plenty of water and leave them under running water to remove any grain of sand left. Put half a clove of garlic and half of the parsley in a mortar. Crush them.

Put the oil and the rest of the garlic in a pan and fry. As soon as the garlic is golden remove from the heat and add the ingredients crushed in the mortar. 

Mix well and stir in the tomatoes, half a glass of water, little salt and plenty of pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add the clams, mix and cover. Shake the pan now and then, without removing the lid. When all clams are open remove from the heat. 

Toast some slices of home-made bread in the oven. Serve them with the soup.