Prawns, Scallops, and Clams with Tomato and Feta

This is one of the best seafood dishes I’ve ever tasted. I’ve modified the recipe from one that appeared in a terrific cookbook simply titled Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (Random House, 2012, Toronto). Add bread, and you’ll need no rice or couscous. Add a salad, and you’ll have a complete meal. This makes 2 generous portions.

Prawns, Scallops, and Clams with Tomato and Feta:

1/2 c. (125 mL) white wine
1 lb. (500 g) fresh, live clams in the shell, rinsed in cold water
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp. (15 mL) olive oil
3 Italian plum (“Roma”) tomatoes, peeled and chopped (about 11 oz. or 300 g; fresh or canned will do)
1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp. (7.5 mL) dried leaf oregano
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
One 1-in. (2.54 cm) strip of zest, peeled from a fresh lemon
About 8 tiger prawns, peeled and deveined (about 3 oz. or 100 g)
About 8 large (halved horizontally ) or 16 small scallops (about 7 oz. or 200 g)
3/4 c. (235 mL) hard feta cheese, drained and broken into 3/4-in. (2 cm) chunks
1 lemon wedge per serving, seared briefly in very hot skillet
1 green onion, thinly angle-sliced
1 soft baguette, thickly sliced, to mop up juices

Preheat oven to 475 deg. F. Add wine to medium saucepan, simmering until reduced by three-quarters. 

Simmer wine, reducing by three-quarters

Add clams: Cover and occasionally shake the pan over high heat 2 min.

Add clams to pan. Cover and steam. 

Remove from heat, discarding any unopened clams. Pour clams and juice into a fine sieve placed over a bowl to capture juices. Set juices aside. Separate clams from shell (see Note), leaving just a few to decorate the finished dish.

In large skillet, cook garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat 1 min., or just until golden. Add tomatoes, reserved clam liquid, sugar, oregano, salt and pepper, and zest strip. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat 20 min., or until sauce thickens. 

Cook tomato-mushroom sauce until it thickens.

Stir in prawns and scallops, cooking 1-to-2 min. Gently stir in shelled clams. 

Keep a few clams in shell; assemble with other seafood.

Gently add seafood to sauce, cooking quickly.

Transfer to small casserole or to 2 individual heat-proof serving dishes. Poke chunks of feta into sauce. Add reserved clams in shell. Place in oven 3-to-5 min., just to heat through.

In a small, fresh skillet, quickly sear lemon wedges on medium-high while seafood heats. Remove seafood from oven, sprinkling with green onion. Serve immediately with hot lemon wedge on serving plates and sliced baguette alongside. Yields 2 portions.

And there we have it, on shell-shaped, heat-proof dishes!

Note: A curved grapefruit knife does this job very well.