Stuffed Clams

Stuffed clams or stuffies are a quintessential New England treat. Especially in Rhode Island. A stuffed clam is really just bread and clams stuffed into a shell and baked. There are versions with bacon or chorizo, peppers, onions but for me it’s all about the clams.

12 cherrystone clams

1 pint chopped clams

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 small yellow onion diced

Breadcrumbs

Parsley chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Paprika

I start by shucking the cherrystones and saving the shells. Reserve the juice and give the clams a rough chop. Drain the chopped clams, reserving that juice as well.

Sweat the garlic and onion until translucent. Add in the cherrystones and chopped clams, salt and pepper and saute quickly. No need to cook them until done as you will be baking the clams later on. Add about half the clam juice.

Here’s the tricky part. I don’t have a measurement for the breadcrumbs as it always changes based on how much liquid there is in the pan. You need the liquid to help bind everything so you can’t skip that. Also adding too much means you will need to add a lot of breadcrumbs and then your clams will be all filler and no clam. Nobody wants that. So slowly add breadcrumbs until you get a texture similar to wet sand. You’ll be able to pack the mixture into the clam shells and it will hold its shape.

Once you’ve gotten the right consistency for the clam/breadcrumb mixture add the parsley and let it cool. Clean the clam shells and scrape off any bits of the muscle left on the shell. Once the mixture is cool pack it into the shells creating a small dome. No need to make them too big or they won’t get hot in the middle before the outside gets too crispy.

Top with a sprinkling of paprika and bake at 425 ℉ for about 20-25 minutes. The outside should start to brown and get crispy and the center should be hot. I shouldn’t have to say this (I’m really saying it for myself) but let them cool some before enjoying. We’ve burned too many tastebuds in the past and it would be a shame to miss these flavors.