1,536 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...

How to prepare cockles

Name: How to prepare cockles
Prep time: 1 h 25 min
Cook time: 27 min
Total time: 1 h 52 min
Yield: 120 g
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 kg cockles; 1 shallot; 1 sprig parsley; 10 g butter; 100 ml dry white wine; pepper

Cockles are small Atlantic shellfish which can be used in many delicious dishes. However, they need to be prepared with care before cooking.

Here is a simple way to do this.

564 K 1× 3.7/5 (167 reviews)

1 hour 55 min. difficulté

Easy

6.85 €

120 g

6 Ingredients

Last modified on: March 13^th 2013

For 120 g, you will need:

1 1 kg cockles
2 1 shallot
3 1 sprig parsley
4 10 g butter
5 100 ml dry white wine
6 pepper
Total weight: 1,135 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation: 25 min.

Resting: 1 hour

Cooking: 30 min.

All in all: 1 hour 55 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - ⌛ 30 min.

Tip the cockles into a large container of cold water. Stir them round briefly and leave for 30 minutes.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 3 min.

After this time, remove the cockles form the water. It is important not to tip the contents of the container through a sieve (which will not extract the sand), but remove them carefully from the water.

See how on this video.

Discard the water, rinse out the container, refill it with clean water and put the cockles back in.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 30 min.

Leave to soak for another 30 minutes.

Repeat this operation until the water remains clear.

Stage 4 - ⌛ 5 min.

Chop 1 shallot.

Rinse the parsley, keeping the stalk.

Stage 5 - ⌛ 2 min.

Melt 10 g butter in a large pan then add the chopped shallot and parsley, but do not add salt or pepper. Cook without colouring for 1 minute.

Stage 6 - ⌛ 5 min.

Add 100 ml dry white wine and bring to the boil.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 2 min.

As soon as the white wine boils, add the washed cockles...

Stage 8

...and cover.

Stage 9

After a few minutes, the shells will begin to open. Stir them round in the pan so that those that are still closed are in the wine to give them the chance to open.

Stage 10 - ⌛ 5 min.

After 3 or 4 minutes take out all the opened cockles, using a (spider) araignée or skimmer and put them in a sieve.

Stage 11 - ⌛ 10 min.

Remove the contents of the cockles one at a time and discard the shells. Discard any cockles that have broken shells and any that have not opened.

Stage 12 - ⌛ 2 min.

Rinse the cockles under cold running water to remove any remaining sand.

Stage 13

If you plan to use the cooking liquid to make a sauce, which is a very good idea, you will need to reduce it.

Stage 14 - ⌛ 3 min.

Pour the contents of the pan into a smaller pan through a fine sieve.

Stage 15

Beware: the sand from the cockles will collect at the bottom of the pan, so it is important NOT to try and filter right to the last drop, but discard the liquid from the bottom (and the sand with it).

Stage 16 - ⌛ 15 min.

Reduce the remaining saved cooking liquid by around half over low heat before using in your recipe.

Remarks

When preparing cockles, you will encounter two problems: sand, which is very unpleasant in the mouth (so do follow the advice to deal with this) and the saltiness of the cooking liquid. If you use this to make a sauce, do not add any salt.

Cockles are mostly shells and water: for 1 kg of cockles you will only end up with around 100 g of useful cockle meat (90% waste).

Keeping: A few hours in the fridge in a sealed container or covered with plastic film.

Source: Home made.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	60 RDI=20 %	20 RDI=2 %	40 RDI=6 %	650 RDI=30 %	2,730 RDI: 30 %
Per 100 g	5 RDI=2 %	1 RDI=0 %	3 RDI=1 %	60 RDI=3 %	240 RDI: 3 %

Possible allergens in this recipe: milk, Sulfites

How much will it cost?

For 120 g : 6.85 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

Some other recipes using this recipeSee them all 7

Tagliatelle with cockles

In this recipe, the cockles and pasta are prepared separately, then mixed with the sauce at the last minute. The cockles are first cooked quickly, then shelled carefully (I find it unpleasant to have to do this on the plate) and the cooking juices are used to prepare a cream sauce. The tagliatelle...
158 K 14.7 2 hours 20 min.

Cockles and cabbage with smoky cream sauce

I think you'll like this straightforward recipe which brings together cockles and cabbage with a smoky cream sauce.
39 K 1 hour 6 min.

Fillets of sole Dieppoise

In principal, fillets of sole Dieppoise are poached and served with a creamy sauce and small shellfish. I am offering a new twist on the dish, with the fish sautéed rather than poached, a cream sauce flavoured with mussel stock, and served with shellfish (mussels, cockles and clams), mushrooms and...
89 K3.9 1 hour 30 min.

Breton style shellfish and vegetable soup

For this recipe with marine flavors, we will cook several kinds of shellfish, then add them to small creamed vegetables.
34 K 1 hour 45 min.

Fisherman's Ragout

This ragout combines vegetables (cut small and cooked until just tender in vegetable stock) with a mix of cockles and chunks of fish, all simmered together with cream and saffron.
119 K4.1 2 hours 20 min.

This recipe uses (among others)

Other recipes you may also like

Sautéed turmeric chicken with mushrooms

For this dish, the chicken and mushrooms are first sautéed separately, then combined in a cream and turmeric sauce.

May 10^th 202376 K4 1 hour 2 min.

Chocolate sauce

This rich smooth chocolate sauce, with its full flavour, is one of the indispensable ingredients of profiteroles, but it can be used with many others desserts.

February 21^th 2011322 K 24 35 min.

Coconut paste

Similar to marzipan or walnut paste, coconut paste can be used in a variety of cake or sweet recipes, but you can enjoy munching it just as it is.

October 13^th 2010308 K 14.2 15 min.

How to beat egg whites

Beat egg whites is very common in cooking and pastry, here are some tips to get there easily.

February 21^th 2011573 K5 5 min.

How to prepare cabbage

Cabbage can be used cooked or raw, whole leaves or in julienne. Here is how to prepare a cabbage julienne.

December 31^th 20131.16 M 13.4 45 min.

News list of cooking-ez.com

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.

The 1 comment already posted on this recipe

Just made this. It was delicious! very easy to follow your instructions.
Many Thanks!
Posted by Anonymous may 2^nd 2016 at 09:58 n° 1

Follow this recipe (as 9 people already do)

If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.