Merry Christmas Eve, friends.
I made these baked clams on Friday night and they were deemed “the best baked clams I ever had.” by people who would know, so I thought you might need this appetizer for the next two days, too.
You’ll need a dozen little neck clams, pancetta, ritz crackers, clam juice, 6 tablespoons of butter, lemon, oregano, grated Parmesan cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, shallots, and garlic.
Let’s get into it:
Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Steam the clams:
Fill a pot with water , bring to a boil, add clams and cover. Steam until they just open, removing them one by one to a bowl as they do, 4 to 7 minutes. Place the halved clams on a half sheet pan.
Make the stuffing:
Take half of sleeve of ritz crackers, put them in a plastic ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin. Put in a stainless steel bowl, mix in 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan and dry oregano.
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot, 1/2 cup of chopped pancetta, sprinkle with salt, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir into cracker mix.
Put it all together:
Scoop a heaping teaspoon of the cracker mixture over each clam. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the clams.Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.
While they’re cooking, in a pot mix clam juice, lemon juice and season with pepper and garlic on medium.
When clams are ready, pour a little clam juice on each one and serve.