Caprese Clams

With bursting tomatoes, fresh garlic, and thick cut croutons in a luscious basil, lemon white wine sauce, these Caprese Clams will wow the guests at your next dinner party. Perfectly served family style as an appetizer or as a meal over pasta. For this recipe, Tristin used sun-ripened tomatoes and flavorful basil from Blanchard Mountain Farm and fresh manila clams from Samish Gold Seafoods. The clams are sautéed in butter from Golden Glen Creamery.

Blanchard Mountain Farm near Edison, grows WSDA certified organic vegetables, unique herbs, cut flowers and specialty crops; including many Italian varieties! Owners Linda Versage and Walter Brodie are committed to enhancing their farm’s ecosystem and sharing it with visitors and wildlife. Find more information on their farm stand here.

Samish Gold Seafoods is a hometown seafood market offering fresh shellfish including oysters, clams, shrimp, prawns, plus fish and more.  Owned and operated by the Rodarte family, the shellfish is exclusively grown and harvested in Samish Bay waters. The market is located on Avon Allen Road in Bow, WA, adjacent to their oyster bar and taqueria, The Oyster Shuckers.

Golden Glen Creamery produces all-natural, handcrafted cheese, butter, and dairy from their herd of Holstein, Guernsey, and Jersey cows. Dairy, creamery and farm store owned and operated by Norma Ruiz and family in Bow, Washington. Read more about the Ruiz family, how they make their cheese, and their new farm store in Bow here on the GSV Blog.

Caprese Clams

by Tristin Rieken, Fresh Flavorful

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh, live manila clams
• 1 lemon – zested and juiced
• ¼ cup white wine – or substitute beer, chicken stock, or vegetable stock.
• 4 cloves garlic – sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup basil leaves – cut into fine ribbons or torn into pieces
• ½ cup crouton style breadcrumbs – or make homemade garlic croutons by tossing chunks of rustic bread in garlic butter and baking at 300 until crispy.
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• If necessary, soak clams in salt water for 30 minutes to an hour to purge sand. Then rinse in cold water and discard any clams that are open and won’t close when tapped.
• Heat a large cast iron pan over medium high heat on the stovetop or on grill over medium hot coals.
• Add butter, red pepper flakes and cherry tomatoes to the hot pan. Cook until butter is melted, and tomatoes begin to puff slightly, about 1 minute.
• Add sliced garlic and clams to the buttered tomatoes and stir or shake to prevent garlic from scorching. Turn clams to coat in butter and cook over medium heat for about a minute before adding white wine, lemon juice and lemon zest.
• Cover and continue cooking until clams open, about 3 – 5 minutes then remove cover, stir, and remove and discard any clams that have not opened. Season broth to taste with salt and pepper. 
• Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese, croutons, and basil.
• Serve immediately as a meal over pasta or as an appetizer directly out of the pan with a big loaf of crusty bread to sop up the broth.
• Enjoy!

Yield: Two small appetizer sized servings. To serve more simply double or triple the recipe.