CLAM SOUP 

Ingredients to serve 4 people:

Clams, 1 kg	White wine (as preference) or red, ½ glass
Oil, ½ glass	Tomato sauce, a spoonful
Garlic, 1 clove	Salt, to taste
Anchovies, 2	Pepper, plenty
Parsley, a sprig	Thick slices of toast (Crostini)

Method

For four people, you will need a kilogram of clams. 

Wash them thoroughly, changing the water several times, and using your hands to remove the sand, rinsing them carefully afterwards. It is advisable to do the final rinse in salt water, in order to give the shell back its natural flavour that comes from the contact with seawater. 

Put half a glass of oil into a large frying pan, together with a clove of garlic. Lightly fry and, before it changes colour, chop the garlic finely. Use the mortar to paste the washed and boned anchovies with a little garlic and a sprig of parsley, and then add half a glass of dry red or white wine. 

As soon as you have removed the garlic from the frying pan, pour this mixture in. 
Mix and, after three or four minutes, when the wine has evaporated, add a large spoonful of tomato sauce and two fingers of water.  Season with salt and plenty of pepper and allow to cook for a few more minutes. 

When the mixture has reduced, add the well-rinsed clams to the frying pan, cover and, mixing every so often, allow to cook until all the clams have opened. There is no need to add water, because the clams will provide the liquid necessary for the cooking. Whilst the clams cook (and this requires about 5-7 minutes), take the large rectangular slices of bread, they should approximately the size of playing cards, but several centimetres high, and fry them in oil. If you prefer, you can of course toast the bread in the oven, instead of frying it. Place two or three of these slices of bread at the bottom of each soup bowl. Pour the clams in their sauce onto the bread, and finish with a pinch of chopped parsley. 

THE DISH

Clam soup is, without doubt, a 'poor' dish. Clams were traditionally always to be found amongst the remnants of what was leftover from the sales made by fishermen, and it is for this reason that they were used. This shellfish soup is a far cry from the usual rich broth made with many varieties of fish, but if made well, this is no less good than any of the more famous and richer shellfish soups. 

The preparation is simple and the flavour very pleasant. As clams have a rather delicate flavour, this is reinforced by a suitable quantity of anchovies, the flavour of which adds to the clams, enhancing their flavour rather than covering it. The dish is enriched by the fried or oven-toasted slices of bread. 


WINE ACCOMPANIMENT

This dish is, by nature, of delicate flavour and poor structure, however, not for this should it be considered second-rate. In fact, if it is made well, it gives flavours and tastes that are original and very pleasant. The dish requires a dry, white wine that is young, harmonious, slightly acidic and not greatly alcoholic, with only a light structure and which is slightly aromatic with a persistent, but fairly neutral, flavour. 


SUGGESTED WINES