Roasted Clams with Bacon Recipe

Bacon, garlic, and sweet red peppers give an Italian twist to roasted clams. This is a quick and easy dish great as an entree or appetizer. Feel free to double the recipe.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Ingredients:

• 12 fresh New Jersey littleneck clams
• Salt
• Cornmeal or all-purpose flour
• .
• For the Topping:
• 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon fine bread crumbs
• 1 Tablespoon chopped roasted red sweet pepper
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped pancetta or bacon
• Dry white wine
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Preparation:

Scrub the clams to remove exterior dirt.

Preheat a broiler. In a mixing bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, bread crumbs, red pepper, parsley, and bacon. Mix well.

Working over a bowl to catch any clam juice, open clams, cutting the flesh from the shell cavity to make it easier to lift out when eating. Leave the whole clam meat in one of its shells and discard the other shell.

Spoon equal amount of topping on each clam. Drizzle clam juice from the bowl over the topping and sprinkle lightly with wine to keep the clams moist and prevent them from burning. Place in a flameproof baking dish 9 inches from the broiler.

Broil for about 6 minutes, watching carefully to be sure the topping does not burn. If it browns too quickly, move farther from the flame and add a little more clam juice or wine before returning them to the oven. Serve hot with lemon wedges.

Yield: 2 servings

Recipe Source: Antipasti, The Little Dishes of Italy by Julia Della Croce (Chronicle Books)
Reprinted with permission.