Spaghetti with Pippis

Actually, I may have the spelling wrong. Some people spell them Pipi, some spell them Pippi. Who knows? Who cares?

Down at the beach, at low tide, I play with the dogs. It's a simple game, I throw a stick and the dogs rush into the sea to retrieve it. The 1st one there gets the stick, and is hounded (quite literally) by the other 2 who share the honour of returning it to me. Sometimes I throw more than one stick and the process becomes more complicated.

Meanwhile, as I tire the tireless dogs, LW and, in this case, LW's Mum dig for Pippis. There are 100s of them and it doesn't take long to get the 30ish required per person to make this dish. So, bucket full of clams, boot full of dog-tired dogs, we head home for the freshest seafood dish:

The Pippis are washed of any grit and sand, and then covered in fresh water for an hour or so. then I fry some onion and garlic, add a little herbes de provence and some dried chilli and when it's all softened and starting to engolden, I add about 2 cups of white wine and simmer for 10 min until the wine has lost its sharpness. The smell should be amazing by now. I then add the drained Pippis and steam them in the pan until they open.

The dish is finished with some cream and a handful of chopped parsley. I then mix in some cooked spaghetti and serve.

Pippis are tiny, bright orange/red and have a mild, sweet and slightly nutty seafood flavour. They are plentiful, easy to catch and some of the best kaimoana* I know of.

*kaimoana- A Maori word meaning seafood. I used it because collecting seafood in this way is a Maori tradition.