Pasta with Cockles

Simple to prepare yet elegant enough for company. And best of all it can be done in about 10 minutes!

1 lb linguine or other long pasta (450 g)
extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
½ red chilli, seeds removed and cut finely
generous pinch dried chilli flakes
2 lbs cockles (1 kg)
½ cup white wine
handful parsley, roughly chopped
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
2 lemons

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to boil, add the linguine and stir to separate. Cook as directed on the package, about 8-10 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking heat a large heavy-based fry pan to hot, add a generous glug of oil, add the cockles, garlic and chili. Shake the pan so the cockles move around, add the wine, cover with a lid and cook briefly until all the cockles are opened. Turn off the heat, add the parsley, a generous grind of pepper and squeeze of lemon.

Add the drained pasta and toss to combine.

Serve with more olive oil and lemon wedges.

Makes 4 servings.