Crema de Almejas

    This recipe makes a delicious seafood dip that is best accompanied by potato chips or fresh veggies.  The recipe comes from my aunt Carola and we’ve been preparing it at home for years.  It is prepared with cockles in brine and cream cheese.  I’ve been able to find the cans of cockles in brine in an international grocery store in the US.  In Spain, these are very common and they are served as a tapa before lunch along with other canned foods, such as pickled mussels, or anchovy stuffed olives.

 

    It only takes 5 minutes to prepare and you can make it hours before a dinner and save it in the fridge until meal time.  I you haven’t tried cockles in brine before I encourage you to get some and try them. 

     Here’s what you’ll need:

 

MATERIALS

-  Hand blender

-  Bowl to serve

 

INGREDIENTS

-  1 can of cockles in brine

-  1 pack of cream cheese

-  2 tbsps. of mayonnaise

-  1 tsp. of mustard

-  1 tbsp. of lemon juice

-  1 tsp. of Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins)

HOW TO PREPARE IT

1.  Open the can of cockles and drain the juice in a small glass.  Save this juice so you can use it to liquefy the dip if it turns out too thick.

2.  Mix in a blender glass the cream cheese and the cockles.

 

3.  Add the lemon, mayonnaise, mustard and Worcestershire sauce.

4.  Blend until homogeneous and smooth.

 

5.  If needed, add some of the cockles’ juice that you previously drained.

6.  Place the dip in a bowl and serve with chips.

 

 

Enjoy!