Clam Recipes

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Ingredients

2 cups coarsely chopped clams

¾ cup clam liquid

2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

¼ teaspoon pressed garlic

1 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon dry thyme

½ teaspoon dry basil

½ cup dry white wine

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

Rock salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Scrub the clams thoroughly under cold, running water. Open the clams, reserving ¾ cup clam liquid. Discard the top shell (keep the bottom shell!) and chop the clam meat.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the clam liquid, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, oregano, thyme, basil, wine, pepper, and olive oil.
4. Place the clams on the bottom half shell in a bed of rock salt in a cooking pan. Top each with the breadcrumb mixture.
5. Bake until browned and the clams are cooked through. About 10 to 15 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of North Carolina Sea Grant Mariner’s Menu, contributed by Joyce Taylor.

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Ingredients

1 can (6.5 ounces) chopped clams, drain and reserve juice

2 cans (6.5 ounces) minced clams, drain and reserve juice

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, diced

4 large baking potatoes cut into bite-size pieces

1 pound center cut bacon, reserve grease

½ teaspoon dried thyme

6 stems fresh thyme with leaves pulled off

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups half & half

4 cups milk

Directions

1. Cook the bacon, then place it on a layer of paper towels to remove excess grease. Do not drain the pain. Cook the onions and celery in the reserved bacon grease until they are soft and tender, approximately 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add reserved clam juice and potatoes along with enough water to just cover the potatoes. Bring them to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, approximately 15 minutes. Add ¼ teaspoon of the dried thyme while cooking the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Remove ¾ cup of the potato/onion/celery mixture and put it in a mixing bowl. Cover with ¾ cup of the broth, then puree with a hand blender (or puree in a blender).
4. Return mixture to the pot and add the clams. Then add heavy cream, half & half and milk. Cook on medium high heat for approximately 10 minutes. Add the remaining dried thyme and fresh thyme along with salt and pepper.
5. Serve with crumbled bacon and/or oyster crackers.

Recipe courtesy of Mariner’s Menu: 30 Years of Fresh Seafood Ideas by Joyce Taylor, 2003, North Carolina Sea Grant.

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Ingredients

2 cups clams, cleaned and chopped, juice reserved

Clam juice plus enough water to make 1 ½ cups of liquid

¼ cup olive oil

3 cloves pressed garlic

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

8 ounces linguine

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

Directions

1. Time the cooking of your linguine and sauce so that both are done at the same time.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and saute the garlic and red pepper until brown. Season with parsley and oregano.
3. Add in the clams and liquid. Bring to a boiling point and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until clams are tender.
4. Serve over the pasta and sprinkle lightly with Parmesan cheese.

Recipe courtesy of North Carolina Sea Grant Mariner’s Menu, contributed by Joyce Taylor in No-Salt Seafood: All the Flavor without the Salt.

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Ingredients

2 pounds chopped quahogs or surf clams*

1 pound linguiça, ground or diced small

1 pound chouriço, ground or diced small

1 pound Ritz crackers, crushed

12 ounces of seasoned stuffing

1 large onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped (dried is ok)

8 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

15-25 clam shells, cleaned

Directions

1. Over medium heat, melt the butter then sauté the onions and garlic a little past translucent, but take them off of heat before they caramelize.
2. In a mixing bowl, add all other ingredients and then add the cooked onion and garlic. Mix thoroughly. It’s best to let this mixture sit overnight in the fridge to allow the Ritz crackers and stuffing to saturate.
3. Spoon the mixture into the cleaned clam shells and place them on a baking sheet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit—until the internal temperature of the mixture reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. About 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Serve with lemon wedges and hot sauce.

Chef’s Tip: You can purée 1 pound of the clams to help bind the mixture.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance Meet the Fleet Program, in partnership with Brian Reeves, owner of PJ’s Family Restaurant. For more delicious seafood recipes visit the Alliance’s local seafood page.

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Ingredients

1 pound uncooked spaghetti

24 littleneck clams, washed well

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 Spanish onion, peeled and diced small

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

½ cup white wine

3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Kosher salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ cut grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for about 6 to 7 minutes; pasta should be al dente (it will finish cooking in the sauce). Strain the pasta and set it aside.
2. Place the clams in a medium lidded pot with 1 cup of water. Cover the pot tightly and place over medium heat. Simmer until the clams fully open—about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.
3. In a large sauté pan, heat the canola oil over medium heat and add the onions. Sauté until they begin to color lightly. Stir in the garlic, sauté lightly and then add the white wine. Simmer until the white wine is nearly evaporated.
4. Carefully pour 1 cup of the liquid from the pot of clams into the sauté pan. If there is any sand left from cooking the clams, it will have settled at the bottom of the pot. So pour the liquid off slowly, holding back the clams with a spoon and leaving a little liquid in the pan.
5. Simmer the onion mixture for 1 more minute. Add the cooked pasta, parsley, black pepper, and butter to the pan. Stir well to combine and continue simmering for about 30 seconds.
6. Season with salt and lemon juice. Place the pasta in a large serving bowl and place the clams on top. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Jeremy Sewall, from his cookbook Everyday Chef.

A Note from Chef Jeremy Sewall: Clams are one of the easiest types of seafood to make at home—they’re forgiving and they cook quickly. The one thing that can ruin this dish is sand in the clams. Make sure you hand scrub each clam and rinse them under cold water really well; don’t let them sit in standing water since it will cause them to die. 

Try to buy the clams on the day of, or the day before, your dinner; you want them to still be alive. And be sure to rinse your parsley and pat it dry before cutting. Timing this dish is the trickiest part—you want all the items to be cooked at about the same time.

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Ingredients

36 small clams in the shell

½ cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 bowl of unsalted butter, melted for serving

1 lemon or lime, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Scrub the clams thoroughly with a stiff brush under cold running water.
2. Place the wine and butter in the bottom of a large pot or steamer.
3. Place a rack in the pot and arrange the clams on the rack.
4. Cover and steam for 6 to 10 minutes or until the clams open.
5. Arrange the clams in their shells in shallow soup bowls and pour the broth over them.
6. Serve with the melted butter and lemon wedges.

Recipe courtesy of North Carolina Sea Grant Mariner’s Menu, contributed by Joyce Taylor in No-Salt Seafood: All the Flavor without the Salt.

Ingredients

8 littleneck clams, rinsed of sand

4 large sea scallops, muscle removed

3 ounces calamari (squid) rings

3 ounces monkfish, skinned and cut into bite-size pieces

½ cup large diced tomato

½ cup julienned cucumber

¼ fennel bulb, julienned; reserve a few fronds for garnish

4 basil leaves chiffonade; plus a couple of whole leaves for garnish

1 scallion cut lengthwise into thin slices; reserve the green top for garnish

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, sliced

½ teaspoon sea salt

Black pepper to taste

1 cup water

1 large baguette

Directions

1. Remove crust from the bread and cut it into ½ - inch cubes. Lightly toast bread cubes in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven and set aside. You’ll need about ½ cup of toasted bread cubes for the recipe.
2. Heat a large sauté pan. Add olive oil. Season scallops and monkfish with salt and pepper. Sear until browned on the outside, remove from the oil and set aside.
3. Add garlic and brown slightly, then add calamari and toss quickly.
4. Add clams and water, season lightly with salt and pepper. Cover until clams begin to open.
5. Return scallops and monkfish to the pan. Cook covered until all clams open, about 1 minute. You may have to add more water if the clams do not open. Make sure that you have about a ½ cup of liquid left when the dish is finished.
6. Put cut vegetables into a large bowl with basil. Season with salt and pepper, add bread cubes, and toss.
7. Just before serving, toss in the hot seafood and half of the cooking liquid. Portion onto plates, garnish with scallion sprigs and fennel fronds.
8. Pour remaining seafood broth around each plate.

Recipe credit: Chef Jim Weaver, New Jersey chef, 2004 Great American Seafood Cook-off

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