Clam and sweetcorn salad

Ingredients :

• 5 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 36 small hard-shell clams, scrubbed
• 250g mushrooms, wiped clean, stemmed and quartered
• 3 carrots, cut diagonally into 5mm slices
• 3 sticks celery, trimmed and cut diagonally into 5mm slices
• 325g fresh sweetcorn kernels ( about 2 large ears of corn )
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp virgin olive oil
• 500g fresh spinach, washed, stemmed and cut into chiffonade

Preparation and Cooking Instructions

1. Combine the spring onions, garlic, wine and 3 tbsp of the lemon juice in a large pan. Bring the mixture to the boil. Add the clams to the boiling liquid. Cover the pan and cook the clams until they are open - about three minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the clams to a large bowl; discard any that remain closed. Strain the broth through a sieve lined with muslin into a bowl, taking care not to pour any of the accumulated sand into the sieve.
2. When the clams are cool enough to handle, remove them from their shells. Dip each clam into the broth to rinse off any remaining sand. Transfer the rinsed clams to a bowl; cover the bowl and refrigerate.
3. Strain the clam broth once again and pour it into saucepan. Add the mushrooms and the remaining tbsp of lemon juice to the saucepan. Bring the broth to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer the mushrooms for 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the mushrooms to a bowl.
4. Add the carrots and celery to the clam broth in saucepan; cover the pan and simmer the vegetables for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, add the carrots and celery to the mushrooms; do not discard broth. Let the vegetables cool to room temperature.
5. If you are using fresh sweetcorn, pour enough water into a saucepan to fill it about 2.5cm deep. Set steamer in the saucepan and put the sweetcorn into the steamer. Bring the water to the boil, tightly cover the pan, steam the sweetcorn for 3 minutes ( Frozen sweetcorn doesn't need steaming).
6. To prepare the dressing, whisk the parsley, vinegar, some pepper and the oil into the reserved calm broth. Add all the vegetables to the bowl containing clams; pour about ¾ of the dressing into the salad and toss it well.
7. Arrange the spinach chiffonade on individual plates. Spoon some of the salad on to each plate; pass the remaining dressing separately.