Northumbrian Cockle Soup
Ingredients
- 4- to 50 Cockles (Or you can use clams)
- 1 ounce Butter
- 1 ounce Plain Flour (All-Purpose Flour)
- 1 pint Full Fat Milk
- 2 tablespoons Onion. Finely Chopped
- 1 tablespoons Celery. Finely Chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons Parsley. Chopped plus extra for garnish
- 4 to 6 tablespoons Double cream
- freshly ground pepper (I prefer to use white in this dish)
Accompaniment
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Description
A classic North of England soup originally the cockles were boiled in seawater as we still do (sort of) we use a good Cornish sea salt added to our water. Almost everyone has his
Method
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1
Clean the cockle shells very well under cold running water, discarding any that are already open. Place the cockles in a large saucepan and cover with cold, well-salted water. Bring slowly to the boil, shaking the saucepan from time to time. As soon as the cockles are open, they are ready Do not over-cook, as this will toughen them.
Allow the cockles to cool in the stock, then strain, keep back the stock, and remove the cockles from their shells using a sharp knife, strain the cooled stock again and make up to 1 ½ pints with water if necessary.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, gradually add the cockle stock, stirring to prevent lumps forming, bring to the boil then stir in the milk. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, for 5-10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Add the parsley and pepper, and then stir in the cockles.
Heat through thoroughly and pour into 4-6 soup bowls. Swirl a tablespoon, of cream into each bowl and garnish with a little parsley.
Serve with crusty bread
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