• Cuisine: American
• Course: Main Course
• Features: Fast, Gluten-Free

Ingredients:

• 50 littleneck or Manila clams
• 2 medium red or green bell peppers
• 1 large onion
• 3 medium cloves garlic
• 3/4 cup prosciutto or cooked ham
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups canned diced tomatoes, with juice
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 bunch cilantro

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees; place a large, oven-proof serving bowl inside to warm.

Use a stiff brush to scrub the clams under cool running water, then place them in a large bowl of cold water while you work. Tap on any clams that are gaping open; if they don't close, discard them.

Stem and seed the bell peppers; cut the remaining flesh into small dice. Cut the onion into small dice and coarsely chop the garlic, keeping the garlic separate. Cut the prosciutto or ham into small dice.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium or medium-high heat. Add the diced peppers and onion; cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the tomatoes with their juice, then the prosciutto or ham and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring as needed.

Carefully scoop the clams out of their soaking water (to leave all grit behind; discard the water) and add them to to the skillet; cover and cook for 5 minutes, then check to see whether any clams have opened and transfer those to the warmed serving bowl. Cover, cook for 4 minutes and remove any other clams that have opened. Cover and cook for 1 minute or until the remaining clams have opened. Transfer to the bowl, leaving any clams that have not opened in the pot. (Cover and remove from the heat; the clams may open with more time. If not, discard.)

Meanwhile, coarsely chop the cilantro leaves, discarding the stems.

Increase the heat under the skillet to high, bringing the liquid to a boil (uncovered); cook for 1 minute, then add the cilantro and remove from the heat. Swish around to combine, then pour over the clams. Serve the bowl immediately at the table, family-style.

Clams are classified as bivalves because they have two valves, or shell halves. A ligament in the hinge where the two are joined acts like a spring to hold them apart. The clam flexes its adductor muscle, which is attached to the interior of both valves, to regulate its shell opening.

Clams in the marketplace that gape open often do so because they are in a weakened state from being out of water for a long time. Tap on them; if they pull shut, the clams are okay to cook. If they don't respond, discard them.

When clams are killed by cooking, the adductor muscle relaxes, and the clam pops open. Some recipes advise discarding cooked clams that have not opened. But if the clams were fresh and tightly closed before cooking, they might not be bad or spoiled -- just not cooked long enough. Give the still-closed clams a little more cooking time to see if they open. To be on the safe side, if they don't open -- or when in doubt about their quality -- don't eat them.

From John Ewart Aquaculture and fisheries specialist for the University of Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service

Recipe Source:

Adapted from "2500 Recipes: Everyday to Extraordinary," by Andrew Schloss with Ken Bookman (Robert Rose, 2007).

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