Clams with Chorizo

Ingredience

1 teaspoon cornstarch

¾ cup dry white wine

2 ounces Spanish chorizo, sliced into thin rounds (scant ½ cup)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, sliced thin

2–2¼ pounds littleneck clams, scrubbed

2 tablespoons chopped pimentos (optional)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Crusty bread

Pokyny

1. Whisk cornstarch into wine in liquid measuring cup until dissolved; set aside. Combine chorizo, oil, and garlic in 12-inch skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until garlic begins to brown around edges and chorizo begins to render its fat, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Whisk wine mixture to recombine. Add clams; pimentos, if using; and wine mixture to skillet and bring to boil. Cover and cook until clams open, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and use tongs or slotted spoon to transfer clams to deep platter. Stir parsley into sauce and pour sauce and chorizo over clams. Serve with bread.

Poznámky

Scrub the clams before cooking to remove any sand on their shells. Eastern littleneck clams average eight to 10 clams per pound. You can substitute other small, hard-shelled clams, such as Manila clams, cockles, or Pacific littlenecks, but their sizes (and the number of clams per serving) and cooking times will vary. Do not use larger clams, such as cherrystones or quahogs, or soft-shelled clams. This recipe can easily be doubled in a Dutch oven; increase the cooking time for the clams to about 12 minutes.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS Based on a dish on offer at Ansots restaurant in Boise, Idaho, these clams will bring a taste of Basque country into your home kitchen. We started by toasting garlic and chorizo in olive oil, which both flavored the oil and turned it an appealing red color. The clams were steamed in equal parts clam juice and white wine until they popped open and added their own juice to the broth. A cornstarch slurry thickened up the broth, which was tossed with pimentos and parsley before pouring it back over the clams. Served with crusty bread, it’s a simple but flavorful meal.