Quahogs are a type of large clams. In New England and especially Rhode Island they are prepared stuffed and then called “stuffies”. Since quahogs are not available in the Netherlands, I used a fairly large type of clams called “sea almonds”.
Since it is hard to estimate how much clam meat you will get out of clams, you first cook the clams and relate the amount of the other ingredients to how much clam meat you end up with.
Ingredients
large clams
dry chorizo, diced
stale bread crumbs
green bell pepper, diced
grated cheese
minced onion
minced fresh flat leaf parsley
butter
garlic, minced
dry white wine
To serve
lemon wedges
hot sauce
Instructions
Place the clams in a saucepan and add a splash of white wine.
Cover and bring to a boil until the first clams open.
Remove the clams as they open.
Discard any clams that after 10 minutes have not opened.
Reserve the clam liquid that is left in the saucepan. Take the clam meat out of the shells, reserving both meat and shells.
Chop the clam meat and measure how much you have. Suppose you have 1 cup clam meat. Then you will need:
1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup green bell pepper
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup diced chorizo
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp minced parsley
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan. Add the onion and bell pepper.
Stir over medium heat until the onion starts to color.
Add the chorizo and garlic, and stir for a minute longer. Turn off the heat.
Add the breadcrumbs…
…chopped clam meat, and parsley.
Stir everything, adding as much of the reserved clam juice as needed to end up with a mixture that is moist but not wet.
Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Stuff the reserved shells with the mixture.
Sprinkle them with grated cheese. I used parmigiano, but that doesn’t melt very well unless you add butter or oil.
Bake the clams for 20 minutes at 180C/350F or until the cheese has melted and is golden.
Serve with lemon wedges and hot sauce.
Flashback
Pasta con le sarde is a very typical pasta dish from Sicily with a unique flavor. The main ingredients are pasta and sardines as the name implies, but also wild fennel (finocchietto). The latter ingredient may be hard to find outside of Italy, but luckily dill is an acceptable substitute. As with many Sicilian dishes it also includes pine nuts and raisins.
Perhaps you could give weights in grams as well as cups? There must be many europeans who subscribe to your blog…
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There are many Europeans following my blog and I am European myself. In all my other recipes I provide amounts in grams. But in this case it is by volume. It will also work if you use a cup of a different size than as standard US cup.
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I love clams and this certainly looks like a fine way to cook them.
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I think your clams would be nicer than Quahogs (I am not a huge fan of Quahog’s myself). There is a very nice little book called ‘Stuffie Summer’ devoted to Rhode Island Stuffies available at Amazon which is an enjoyable read and has quite a few recipes: https://www.amazon.ca/Stuffie-Summer-Stuffed-Quahog-Clamming-ebook/dp/B00C3GIMM2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=stuffie+summer&qid=1569076705&sr=8-1
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I just love a recipe that uses the ingredient as the delivery device, the clam shells are perfect! Definitely going to give these a try if I find the right clams!
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I made these a week or so ago and they were wonderful. Thank you.
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Thanks for reporting back. That is great to hear!
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My husband is from Massachusetts and he loves clams. These look delicious! I may have to surprise him. 🙂
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*smile* Have never been to New England and ‘quahogs’ is but a name I have heard. But I do love clams and the recipe does appeal . . . just not the fact that the poor molluscs are cut up . . . shall make my own trials to see whether it is viable to use the beasties whole . . .
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Larger clams like these (and quahogs are even bigger) are tough and large to eat in one bite. That is why they are chopped in most recipes, like in Key West Conch Fritters.
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OK ! Two lessons learnt ! Shall look up the fritters also . . . local ones I get have never presented as tough . . .
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The Fritters are also known as clam cakes. https://stefangourmet.com/2014/11/08/clam-cakes/
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Molto interessante. Noi abbiamo le vongole veraci
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Sono un pochino piccole per farcirle. Ma buonissime!
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Vero, meglio le mandorle, come hai fatto tu
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Another delicious recipe, Stefan. At what time do you add the chopped clams ? I could not find that detail.
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Thanks for pointing that out. I fixed it now, it is together with the bread crumbs and parsley.
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Thanks!
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