Clams With Celery and Toasted Garlic

Name: Clams With Celery and Toasted Garlic
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 3 1/2 pounds relatively small littleneck clams (about 24 to 30 clams), very well scrubbed; 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 4 ounces dried chorizo, bacon, pancetta or guanciale, chopped (optional); 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, plus another clove for serving; 1/2 cup dry white wine (avoid anything overly oaky, sweet or “creamy”); 2 large stalks celery, trimmed and thinly sliced on the bias, plus leaves for serving; Kosher salt and ground black pepper; 1/2 cup parsley, tender leaves and stems; 1/2 cup chopped chives; 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon or lime zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice; Crusty bread or thick toast, for serving

By Alison Roman

Total Time: 40 minutes
Rating: 4(135)
Notes: Read community notes

One of the easiest and most satisfying ways to serve steamed clams is next to thick slices of toast that have been drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with a cut clove of garlic. Another option is to take a slotted spoon and remove all the clams, leaving all the juicy goods behind and using that liquid to heat up a drained and rinsed can of small white beans, or to finish cooking pasta like linguine or spaghetti. Once the beans or pasta are warmed through and have soaked up some of that clammy business, pour it into a large bowl and top with the clams. This recipe uses littleneck clams; look for ones somewhere between the size of a large grape and small apricot. Cockles are an excellent smaller, sweeter substitute; they are extremely similar to clams in anatomy, flavor and texture. Most clams you buy have already been scrubbed and soaked to purge any sediment, mud or sand, but it’s still a good idea to give them another scrub once you’re in your own kitchen. And the chorizo (or bacon, or pancetta) is optional; if you leave it out, the recipe is pescatarian.

Featured in: With a Little Wine (and a Lot of Herbs), Clams Turn On the Charm

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

3½pounds relatively small littleneck clams (about 24 to 30 clams), very well scrubbed
2tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2tablespoons unsalted butter
4ounces dried chorizo, bacon, pancetta or guanciale, chopped (optional)
4garlic cloves, thinly sliced, plus another clove for serving
½cup dry white wine (avoid anything overly oaky, sweet or “creamy”)
2large stalks celery, trimmed and thinly sliced on the bias, plus leaves for serving
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
½cup parsley, tender leaves and stems
½cup chopped chives
1tablespoon finely grated lemon or lime zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice
Crusty bread or thick toast, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Preferably using a natural bristle kitchen scrubber (a brand new kitchen sponge will work as well), scrub the clams well under running water. After the clams have been scrubbed and scrubbed again, let them hang out in a large bowl of cold water. This will allow any residual sediment or grit to free itself from the shells and settle at the bottom of the bowl while you do everything else.
Step 2
Heat oil, butter and chorizo or other pork product, if using, in a large pot (make sure it has a lid) over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pot occasionally until the butter has started to brown a little and the fat has begun to render from the pork, 3 to 4 minutes. (The pork won’t be crispy, but that’s O.K.; you’re not looking for that.)
Step 3
Add the garlic and cook, stirring a minute or two until it begins to take on a toasty, light golden-brown color. Add wine and cook, letting it simmer until it’s a little more than halfway reduced, 2 to 3 minutes. Add celery and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the celery is bright green and just tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
Step 4
Add clams and shake the pot so they settle nicely. Place the lid on the pot and give it the occasional shake, letting them steam open and release their juices, 3 to 5 minutes. (Larger clams will take longer.) The shaking of the pot is not only fun to do, but it gives all the clams quality time with the hottest part of the pot, which will encourage them to open around the same time, although there’s always one or two clams late to the party. If there’s one that just never makes it to the party (as in, it never opens), it’s dead and should be thrown away.
Step 5
Toss the parsley, chives and celery leaves in a small bowl, then add lemon or lime zest and juice, and season with salt and pepper. Serve the clams with a hunk of crusty fresh bread or thick slices of toast that have been drizzled with lots of olive oil and rubbed with a cut clove of garlic, scattering the parsley mixture over everything.

Ratings

4 out of 5

135 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Karen5 years ago

You have to be very careful about adding salt to this dish. I would say leave it out. The clams themselves can be very salty, and with bacon, chorizo or whatever meat you add, it can get saltier still and you can essily end up with a dish where the broth is so salty it is inedible. That said, I have been making versions of this dish for decades. Often with clams I dug myself. It is an excellent summer dish but just as fantastic when you’re in front of a roaring fire and snow is coming down.

David5 years ago

Aug 21.2018 the author's recipe was published in the Times with the admonition that clams were "less fishy than a mussel." I disagree. Mussels only taste "fishy" if they are not fresh. Clams and mussels taste, well, just a bit different as one would expect. If mussels are cooked within a week of harvest date, having been stored and shipped properly (on ice) and quickly rinsed in ice cold water just prior to putting in the pot, they are sweet and immensely satisfying.

Mike M5 years ago

In my experience, the wine should be enough to steam them. The clams (and other mollusks) are hold some water in their shells that will be released as the cooking goes on.

Michael C5 years ago

Try soaking them in very salted water with a handful of cornmeal or polenta thrown in. I find this Spanish methods works great for pulling grit out.

Etta Abrahams5 years ago

I was told, years ago, here in Jonesport, Maine, to throw in a handful of cornmeal with the clams to make them open and close more fully in Step 1 (cold water) to clean themselves out, and to plump them up. It seems to work!

Sue1 year ago

Used clams left over from clam/oyster roast previous day. Added cauliflower to celery. Delicious! Thanks for heads up on salt.

John2 years ago

Delicious and simple. Don’t skip the herb salad. One other note: I might next time use pancetta or bacon because the flavorful oil that rendered out of the chorizo just about overtook the other delicious, more subtle flavors. Nevertheless, we loved it.

skinless/boneless2 years ago

At least 15 clams per person. Bacon adds enough salt. Don’t add more to broth.

liza3 years ago

Fantastic! We used cockles and served this with a side of linguini.

Cannoli3 years ago

Made this with cockles and linguine, and without meat. It was delicious. I’ll make this again with larger clams.

ABF3 years ago

This was delicious. Go easy on the salt.

Sarah3 years ago

We made this last night and it was fantastic! We only had salted butter on hand and after reading the comments we reduced butter to 1/2 tablespoon, and increased olive oil a smidge, and opted not to season with salt. This was the right move as the dish turned out perfectly seasoned. The combination of flavors in this dish are stellar. I would highly recommend!

Jodi4 years ago

I made this with a couple of enhancements and my family loved it. I made the clams exactly according to the recipe. In the topping, I omitted the chives since the ones I had were poor quality. But, I added some marash pepper flakes. I also made a bread crumb topping with toasted Panko in EVOO, seasoned with ground toasted fennel seeds, marash pepper and s&p to taste. It was a very yummy and easy dish. Next time, I would add a bit more garlic. Perhaps some grated into the herbs topping.

James5 years ago

Very easy and tasty. Made it with bucatini pasta and it was a fulfilling meal. I would second the other reader's note to mind the salt-- I used bacon and salted my cooking water for the pasta and it was juuuust this side of too salty. Clams release a lot of brine as it is, I don't think salt is necessary. Served with a fresh, lemon-olive oil dressed simple green salad.

Marie TD5 years ago

If you can get good clams, this is a treat dinner for at home. It made me go to my local seafood shop and now I don't think I'll buy seafood anywhere else! Thanks for the push, Roman.

Bob5 years ago

I was skeptical about using celery and celery leaves but it turned out excellent. I used a 4 hour no knead bread versus the 24 hour no knead bread since I wanted a sweet French boule rather than a sourdough. Next time I will put most of the reduced broth in individual ramekins rather than over the bread since i made the bread a little soggy and took a lot of crunch away.

Sam5 years ago

Yum! Served over linguine. Even my picky husband finished every last drop. Will up the garlic next time though.

Hypatia5 years ago

Excellent. Didn’t have lemon zest, but added a couple tablespoons of chopped leek and red onion with the garlic. Used pancetta - everyone slurped up every last bit of broth... will make again soon!

Etta Abrahams5 years ago

Donna5 years ago

Can this be done with cockles?

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