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Roasted Clams with Garlic, Lemon and Red Pepper

Bread crumbs, garlic, red pepper and lemon slices are roasted around the clams instead of stuffed in them, yielding much brighter flavors and crisp textures. Added bonus: no need to shuck the clams.
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: breaded, clams, cooked
Servings: 4
Calories: 354
Author: Chef Waldy Malouf
Cost: $10

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs fresh, see Recipe Notes
  • 3/4 cup red bell pepper thinly sliced
  • 6 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 tsp black pepper freshly ground
  • Coarse sea salt or kosher salt
  • 1 whole lemon halved lengthwise and thinly sliced, ends discarded
  • 1/3 cup olive oil extra-virgin
  • 24 clams live topnecks or small cherrystones, scrubbed well in cold water
  • 3 Tbl mint fresh, chopped for garnish

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 500° F.
  • In a large bowl, toss together the bread crumbs, red pepper slices, garlic, black pepper and salt to taste. Gently squeeze the lemon slices over the bowl, then add them and toss well. Drizzle the olive oil over all and toss to combine.
  • Lay the clams on a baking pan in a single layer, with their lips facing up. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over and around them. Roast until the clams open, about 10-12 minutes.

Notes

Fresh bread crumbs are moister and will absorb more liquid than the dried kind, making them perfect for soaking up the flavorful clam juice in this recipe.  To make them, simply put cubes of fresh, sturdy bread (like a baguette, Italian loaf, or country-style loaf) in the food processor and process until it turns to crumbs.
Clam varieties: Several varieties of hard-shell clams are commonly used in cooking.  They range in thickness (measure at their hinge) from over 3 inches to under 1 inch.  In general, the smaller the clam the sweeter (and more expensive) it will be.  Quahogs (also called round or chowder clams) are the largest, and are often used for chowder or stuffed clam dishes, followed in size by cherrystones, topnecks, middlenecks, and littlenecks.
Waldy Malouf is the Waldy Malouf Senior Director of Food and Beverage Operations at the Culinary Institute of America Restaurant Group.  Acclaimed for his work at some of Manhattan's most high-profile restaurants, including the Four Seasons, the Rainbow Room, and Beacon Restaurant in New York City, he has been named a Great Chef of New York many times by the James Beard Foundation. His first cookbook, The Hudson River Valley Cookbook, was nominated for an IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award.
From "High Heat: Grilling and Roasting Year-round with Master Chef Waldy Malouf" by Waldy Malouf and Melissa Clark, 2003, Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

Nutrition

Calories: 354kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 378mg | Potassium: 219mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1383IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 114mg | Iron: 3mg
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