Recipe of the week: Haddock, cockle and prawn chowder

Haddock, cockle and prawn chowder recipe from Galton Blackiston's book Hook Line Sinker: A Seafood Cookbook.

Serves four

300g cockles
50g flour
Rapeseed oil
2 large shallots, peeled, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled, grated
175ml dry white wine
1 large white onion, peeled, sliced
425ml white fish stock
100g boiled small new potatoes
1 pinch of saffron
1 large red chilli, finely sliced
250ml whipping cream
50g petit pois
100g fresh sweetcorn kernels, grilled to colour, taken off the cob
300g undyed smoked haddock, cubed in 2cm dice
300g prawns, cooked, shells off
Lime juice to taste
Sea salt and black pepper
4tbs chopped coriander

Place the cockles in their shells into a bowl and cover with cold, slightly salted water. Sprinkle some flour over the top, refrigerate and leave overnight, or at least for a couple of hours (ingesting this flour will encourage the cockles to spit out any sand and grit).

Drain the cockles in a colander then leave under cold, running water for a few minutes to get rid of the flour. Heat a good splash of rapeseed oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add the shallots and two of the garlic cloves, and fry until just starting to colour. Turn up the heat and, when the pan is really hot, tip the cockles in and give them a good shake. Add the white wine, cover and cook over a high heat for a few minutes until the cockles have opened, then take off the heat and set aside.

Once the cockles are cool enough to handle, remove them from the shells and set them aside in a bowl, discarding any that have not opened. Strain the cooking liquor through a muslin cloth into a large bowl and reserve.

Heat four tablespoons of rapeseed oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the onion and remaining two cloves of garlic until softened and just beginning to brown. Add the stock and the potatoes, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Next add the saffron, chillies and cream and continue to simmer to reduce a little.

Finally add the peas, sweetcorn and haddock, followed by the cockles and prawns. Season with lime juice, salt and freshly ground pepper, and just before serving stir in the chopped coriander.

Recipe taken from Hook Line Sinker. Photography by John Scott Blackwell