of cold water after another half an hour. after that time take the pepper, garlic cloves and onion out with a bit of the cooking liquid and blend it. then put the blended liquid back into the pan. normally the overall cooking time is 2 hours (though it can take up to 2.45 hours depending on the size and quality of the white beans. as you can see in the picture ours were gigantic. in any case the final result should be silky beans, as soft as butter.
separately (and after the beans are cooked) heat a frying pan, add the clams (clean them well beforehand) and half a glass of 