Week 17:
Recipe from Kay Benaroch!
Dad's Famous Stuffies
Ingredients
- 8-10 fresh large quahog clams
- ½ pound hot chorizo or linguica (smoked Portuguese sausage) or fully cooked Spanish chorizo
- 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups) OR 1 bag frozen diced onion
- ½ large fresh red pepper diced OR 1 pre-roasted red pepper diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 5-6 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 ½-3 cups packaged stuffing mix cubes OR 3 cups of fresh bread cubes toasted in 350-degree oven
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 oz. butter melted
Instructions
- Chop veggies – pepper, celery, onion, garlic. Then chop sausage into small dice.
- Add 2 in. of water to a stockpot. Add clams and bring to a boil. Cover and steam 15-20 minutes or until clams open. Remove clams from shells saving one half of each shell (the one without the abductor muscle attached) for serving. Coarsely chop clams and strain liquid from stockpot into a bowl.
- Over medium high heat cook chorizo or linguica until some fat is rendered; add veggies and sauté, stirring often until veggies are soft.
- Mix veggie/meat mixture together with bread/stuffing cubes and clams with just enough clam liquor to make a moist stuffing.
- Using hands or ¼ cup measuring cup, pack stuffing into clam shells mounding it slightly and packing down with your hands.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Place stuffies into a 12 x 9“baking pan or shallow casserole
- Sprinkle the top of each clam with parmesan cheese and drizzle with melted butter.
- Bake clams for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Preheat broiler and broil clams until tops are golden.
- Serve with lemon wedges and hot sauce (if desired).
Notes
Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked stuffed clams in a 15x10x1-in. baking pan until firm. Transfer to resealable freezer bags; return to freezer. To use, place two stuffed clams on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with a paper towel; microwave on high 2-1/2 to 3 minutes or until heated through. Serve as directed