Recipe: Embla’s Vongole With Pork Sausage and Fregola Is a Riot of Textures and Flavours

Embla’s vongole with pork sausage, fregola and cime di rapa

Serves 2

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2½ tbsp olive oil

1 slice good-quality sourdough, crusts removed, torn into large chunks

1 tbsp vegetable oil

75g pork and fennel sausage meat

1 garlic clove, sliced

Small pinch of dried red chilli flakes

180g vongole (clams)

1 small bay leaf

60g cime di rapa leaves (see note), picked

60g cime di rapa stalks (see note), thinly sliced

40g cooked fregola (20g uncooked; cooked according to packet instructions)

100ml fish stock

30g unsalted butter

Salt flakes and freshly ground

black pepper, to taste

Lemon juice, to taste

Method

Preheat your oven of choice up (woodfired, if possible) to 450°C, or as hot as it will go. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep cast-iron or ovenproof frying pan over medium heat, add the bread and fry, turning, until golden but not completely dried out. Drain on paper towel.

Wipe the pan clean, place back onto medium–high heat, add the vegetable oil and, once it’s hot, add the sausage meat. Let the heat of the pan rebound, then proceed to break down the meat with a wooden spoon as it fries, breaking it into smallish clumps. Once the sausage has browned lightly, add the garlic and chilli, toss briefly, then add the vongole, bay leaf, cime di rapa leaves and stalks, fregola, fish stock and butter and stir to combine.

Season lightly to taste, then place the pan straight into the oven. Cook, stirring occasionally so the vongole and cime di rapa cook evenly, for around 3–4 minutes or until all of the vongole have opened. Remove the pan from the oven, place over medium heat, then add the croutons, submerging them in the cooking liquid and cooking until just heated through. Season with sea salt and a little lemon juice to taste and pile into your favourite serving bowl. Season lightly to taste, then place the pan straight into the oven. Cook, stirring occasionally so the vongole and cime di rapa cook evenly, for around 3–4 minutes or until all of the vongole have opened.

Remove the pan from the oven, place over medium heat, then add the croutons, submerging them in the cooking liquid and cooking until just heated through. Season with sea salt and a little lemon juice to taste and pile into your favourite serving bowl.

Note: If you can’t find cime di rapa, you can substitute an outdoor-grown mustard green – you want something that has some punch to it.

This is an extract from the Broadsheet cookbook The New Classics, which features 80 all-new recipes by Melbourne’s top cooks, chefs and restaurants. Published by Plum, the book is available for $54.99 at shop.broadsheet.com.au.