How to make coquinas or tellinas. 3 ways to prepare them, naturally, with garlic and with marinara

For 6 € 5 /pers. 230 kcal/100g

If you are one of those who love mollusks, today we bring you some shellfish. They are from the bivalve family, but there are more than 13,000 species and sometimes we don’t even differentiate between clams, cockles, clams, tellinas… Do you?

The difference is in the habitat where they live, fresh or salt water, the depth, their way of feeding, whether they live buried or attached to a surface. But normal people usually differentiate them only by size, color, shell shape and price.

The coquinas, or also called tellinas, live in the mud of marshes and river mouths, also in salty beach areas, buried about 15 meters in the sand. They feed in a suspension manner, I mean they filter the plankton particles that are suspended in the water. As a characteristic we will say that the coquinas are unisexual and reproduce externally, since they expel the eggs outside.

They are a real delicacy, small in size (between 2 – 4 centimeters long), soft in texture, with a delicious flavor, a thin, oval shell with a mauve color inside, and a very fine texture. You can buy them fresh or also vacuum-packed, which usually come clean, or you can also find them frozen. We will highlight the high content of vitamin B3, B9 and folic acid that they provide us. Furthermore, we cannot ignore the nutritional value in iron per 100 g. which provide us with the iron we need per day, without forgetting other minerals such as selenium, potassium and calcium. 

Widely consumed in the beach areas of Cádiz, Huelva with a summer flavor and beach bar, but also in Galicia. The most common way is to make them with garlic. We warn you, they are a real vice. Ideal for an aperitif ten.

Preparation of natural coquinas

1. The first and most important thing is to clean the shells well. Surely you have ever experienced how annoying it is to find sand in one of these bugs. To do this, you must put the coquinas in a container with plenty of water with coarse salt (3 tablespoons) and a splash of vinegar, for 2 hours, and change the water every half hour to remove any impurities that are expelled. Rinse well under cold water with the last water change and set aside.
2. We continue, put it in a frying pan with a little extra virgin olive oil and add the coquinas when the oil is hot. We pour the splash of white wine and stir until they open at medium temperature, discarding any that have remained closed.
3. Once opened, we carefully remove them to a source or plate so that they do not dry out and remain juicy. We discard the kitchen utensils that do not open. Pour the sauce over the coquinas, serve and prepare bread to spread the sauce.

Preparation of garlic coquinas 

1. The first and most important thing is to clean the shells well. Surely you have ever experienced how annoying it is to find sand in one of these bugs. To do this, you must put the coquinas in a container with plenty of water with coarse salt (3 tablespoons) and a splash of vinegar, for 2 hours, and change the water every half hour to remove any impurities that are expelled. Rinse well under cold water with the last water change and set aside.
2. We continue, peeling the garlic cloves, and chop them very small, without using the central area so that it does not repeat itself. We do the same with the parsley, and when we have both chopped, we brown them in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil. 
3. Next, it is the turn of the fine or manzanilla type white wine. We let it cook for a few minutes so that the alcohol evaporates.
4. Now we add the clean and well-drained coquinas, over medium heat, stir and until they open. Once opened, we carefully remove them to a source or plate so that they do not dry out and remain juicy. We discard the kitchen utensils that do not open. Pour the sauce over the coquinas, serve and prepare bread to spread the sauce.

How to make coquinas a la marinera

Seafood clams are a very typical recipe of Galician cuisine, especially in the Rías Baixas area. They are made with a sauce of onion and natural crushed tomato, and with a splash of white wine.

1. As in the previous recipe, the most important thing is to clean the coquinas well to remove any possible remains of sand, in the same way as we have indicated before.
2. The next thing is to clean and cut the garlic cloves and onions. Cut the garlic without the central part into small pieces and brown them in the pan. Then, finely cut the onions into pieces and sauté in the pan until the onion gets that transparent and soft tone. We add a cayenne to give it a spicy touch (optional), then you can remove it.
3. Next, we add the sweet paprika and stir quickly so that it does not burn and become bitter. We sprinkle the flour to bind all the sauce and form what is professionally called a roux. We let it cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly so that it does not burn.
4. Once sautéed, we add the white wine, try to make sure it is of good quality or that it is the same one that you are going to serve later with the coquinas, and we stir for a few minutes until the alcohol evaporates. 
5. We continue adding the tomato sauce and let it boil for 10 minutes. You can puree the sauce so that the lumps are not noticeable, but in my opinion it is much richer naturally.
6. While it is cooking, we put the coquinas in a saucepan with very little water and bring them to the heat. It is important to remove those that open. Those that do not open can be discarded. If you have a pot to steam it would be perfect.
7. We add the water from cooking the coquinas to the sauce, but strain it first. Stir well so that all the flavors are incorporated. We add the coquinas to the sauce and stir carefully so that they are soaked with the sauce. Let stand a few minutes and serve.