New England Baked Stuffed Clams
Continuing with our ongoing theme of local specialties, last week we made ourselves stuffies. Known to the rest of the world as baked stuffed clams, “stuffies” are a mix of bread, meat, and minced clams, baked on the half shell. Think of it as clam stuffing.
On its own, anything described as “clam stuffing” doesn’t seem too appetizing, especially to someone who isn’t a fan of or familiar with clams. If your only experience with bivalves of any sort are raw oysters in all their moist, slimy glory, I can understand your trepidation. However, trust me when I say that stuffed clams are on an entirely different level. Unlike the ubiquitous stuffing found on nearly every holiday table in some for or another, stuffies are like having the best part of the stuffing – that part that gets crunchy and brown – but every shell is filled with it. The outside of the stuffies gets toasted, but because the filling isn’t all that thick, that toasted outer shell is about half of full depth.
Same great taste, with less work
In this recipe, we’re cheating. Typically, you would buy a dozen or so quahogs (hard shell clams for you non-locals), steam them, then remove them from their shells and chop them up, saving the shells to bake the filling in. In this version, we used canned clams to save some money, as we didn’t really want to shell out (get it? SHELL OUT!) the money for a couple of pounds of quahogs, most of which was shell weight. On the other hand, while it’s the most authentic version of stuffies out there, it might be a bit more accessible for people who might not have the same easy access to fresh seafood that us Rhode Islanders get.
What we lack in authenticity, we make up for with flavor. The bread was hand-made by the Beard a few days earlier, and the stuffing is flavored with butter, onions, and some hot, ground chouriço sausage. With the minced clams, you’re guaranteed to have a bite of clam with every forkful, but because they’re minced, you’re not going to get a chunk of clam that feels like you’re chewing a bit of rubber band.
Stuffies - New England Baked Stuffed Clams
A New England classic, "stuffies" combine the taste of the sea with a slightly spicy bread stuffing, and make an easy side or main course for a seafood night. Typically prepared with fresh steamed clams, this recipe is an easier version for the more landlocked folks out there.
Ingredients
- 1 can whole baby clams
- 3 tbsps butter
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 small white onion finely minced
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp parsley
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/2 lb spicy ground chorizo
- 1 small loaf of crusty bread
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup clam juice
- 15 clean shells
- paprika
Instructions
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In a large pan, melt the butter. Saute the onion in the melted butter until translucent, then add garlic and continue to saute until fragrant.
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Add the oregano, parsley, crushed red pepper, black pepper, and Italian seasoning to the pan and combine with the butter, onion, and garlic. Crumble the ground chorizo into the pan and brown it, stirring occasionally to prevent it from burning.
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While the chorizo cooks, scoop the bread out of the crust and break it up into small pieces, discarding any particularly hard bits of crust. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the clam juice until combined. Add the bread to the bowl and mix well until the bread is completely soaked, then add the chorizo mix and continue to combine everything.
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Roughly chop the baby clams. If you have a food processor, just give the clams a couple of quick pulses. Whatever you do, you do NOT want a clam puree. Trust me.
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Add the clams to the soaked bread and chorizo and combine until the clams are evenly distributed throughout the bread mix. Start to gradually add the bread crumbs until the mix holds together and keeps its shape.
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Spray the clam shells with cooking spray, then spoon the bread mixture on the shells. You should have enough mix to easily fill about 15 shells, depending on their size and how much you put on each shell. Arrange stuffed shells on a baking sheet and sprinkle with paprika. Cook in a 350F oven for 1 hour.
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Serve as is, or with lemon juice or hot sauce.
Recipe Notes
If you don't plan on eating all of your stuffies at once, you can individually wrap them in foil and freeze them in a freezer bag. When you're ready to eat them, just arrange them on your baking sheet and cook as directed.
Alternative Option: If you have access to fresh clams, substitute the can of baby clams for 12-15 quahogs (aka hard shell clams). Steam them in a large pan for 20-25 minutes, until clams are open; use just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot. Discard any clams that don't open. Strain the clams, saving 1 cup of the liquid from the pan to use in place of the clam juice, and roughly chop the clams. Keep your shells to stuff with the bread mix.
The Tart likes to eat, cook, and bake things. She eats to work out, and she works out to be able to eat.
I love this recipe and the colours in there – definitely a must make, must have as soon as . thanks so much for sharing!
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I have never had the pleasure of trying a stuffed clam (and I’ve never heard the term quahog either by the way!). Something I will need to rectify very soon. This looks absolutely divine 🙌🏻
I’ve always loved stuffies, and making them ourselves was much better testing than buying them at the store (which we did 3 days earlier – we needed the shells!), so we’ll make them from now on.
Quahog isn’t used much outside of this area, as it’s from one of the Native tribes. Most people outside the area only know the word thanks to the show “Family Guy” anyway 😃
I never thought of stuffing clams but these look delicious. My seafood loving family will love this recipe.
Definitely come back and let me know how it goes! I’m also thinking of doing clamcakes to go along with the really, really awesome chowder recipe I did recently, I firmly believe you can’t have chowder without clamcakes 😋
I never heard of them before I moved here. They are a little piece of heaven.
What a great sounding recipe, I wish clams were part of my regular food round up… I1d definitely be making this!
I love them like this, or steamed, or fried, but they’re just not something I go to the market and think “hmm, let’s get clams this weekend”. Especially when it comes to steaming them to be used in another recipe, if I’m steaming them, I want to just dunk them in melted butter and eat them just like that and would have to buy double the amount a recipe calls for because I’d eat half of them 😊
I grew up on stuffed clams! Thanks for sharing this recipe! 🙂
Woohoo! Someone else who could appreciate “clam stuffing”! 😃