How To Make Casino Clams
Notes
Try to find the Sicilian oregano, dried right on the branch, for this recipe; it makes a difference. Try to get clams on the larger side, and you’ll have plenty of space in the shell for the crispy crumbs.
It is an easy recipe to make and the beauty of it is the bacon mixture can be prepared the day before so when you are ready to serve them, the only thing you have to do is to steam the clams, spoon the mixture on top and broil them tada! This recipe for Clams Casino couldn’t be simpler to make. First, I rendered some bacon in a pan then removed before it became totally crispy. While the bacon is cooking, wash the clams and arrange on a baking sheet. Roast the clams in the oven until they all open discarding any unopened clams.
Recipe from Lidia’s Italy at Home magazine.
Ingredients
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- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 dozen littleneck clams, shucked on the half shell, juices reserved
- ½ cup dry white wine
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- ¼ teaspoon peperoncino
- 1 ½ cups panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup grated Grana Padano
- 4 scallions, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano, preferably the Sicilian on the branch, crumbled
- Kosher salt
Directions
Let the oil and garlic steep in a small bowl for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Strain the clam juice through cheesecloth or a very fine sieve into a large rimmed baking sheet (like a half sheet pan).
Add the white wine, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the butter and half of the peperoncino.
In a large bowl, toss the breadcrumbs, grated cheese, scallions, 3 tablespoons of the garlic-infused oil, the remaining 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, the oregano and the remaining peperoncino. Season lightly with salt. Toss until thoroughly blended.
Top each clam with some of the breadcrumb topping packing it down tight. Set the clams in the prepared baking pan and drizzle the remaining infused oil over them, leaving the garlic behind.
Bake until the pan juices are bubbling and the breadcrumbs are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the clams to a warm platter or divide among serving plates. Spoon the sauce from the baking dish onto the plates, not over the clams, to keep the breadcrumbs crispy. Serve immediately.
Clams Casino are a culinary treat, but opening clams and knowing how to cook them can be a challenge if you’ve never tried it before. This is a step by step guide of how to make Clams Casino, tools you’ll need, a recipe and a helpful video to follow along. Bon Appétit!
If you would like to view instead of read – click below to watch the 4 simple stepes
Tools and Prep
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit
- 1 Clam Knife
- Quarter Baking Sheet – lined with aluminum foil for easy clean up
- Mixing Bowl
- Pot Holders
- Microplane
- Cutting Board
- Towel to Stabilize Cutting Board
- Take your dish towel and run it under water briefly so its just barely wet. Ring the water out. Fold the towel in half and then fold once more, then place on your table top surface and place your cutting board on top. This stabilizes the surface and prevents the cutting board from shifting on you.
Shopping List / Recipe:
- 1 Medium Size Bell Pepper (Red/Yellow/Orange)
- 1 Medium Size Shallot
- 1 Cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1 Lemon (Large Size)
- 1 1/2 Cups Seasoned Bread Crumbs
- 1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 LB Thick Cut Bacon Strips
- Salt & Pepper to Taste!
- 1 Dozen Fresh Clams
- Its important when choosing your clams, you never select one thats cracked or already open. This is a major risk regarding food born illnesses or food poisoning that you can avoid by selecting whole, un-cracked shells.
- When selecting your clams, try to get similar sized clams so you have an even cook temperature for your meal.
- Make sure your clams are in a bag that they can breathe in! If you’re transporting them home from the market, its okay to put them in their own plastic bag to prevent cross contamination. But once you’re home, place them in a mixing bowl with ice (do not submerge them in water) and place a wet towel over the top of the bowl. Clams are sensitive, they need their alone too!
Step 1: Splice & Dice
Now that you’ve done your shopping and have your tools you’re ready to dive into the lesson of how to make Clams Casino
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Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit
- Wash your Bell Pepper, Shallot & Lemon
- Cut the top of the bell pepper off, remove the seeds and dice the pepper. You may want to cut the pepper into strips and then dice from there so you have small bitesize pieces.
- Place to the side of your cutting board once complete
- With the heel of your hand, roll the lemon on your cutting board and push down on the lemon with a little force. This will start to release the juices of the lemon when it comes time to squeeze it.
- With your microplane, rub the lemon back and forth going against and with the grain of the zester. I’d shave about half of the lemon finely.
- Place to the side of your cutting board
- Peal your shallot, cut the ends off, and dice finely. The smaller the better! You can place this to the side of your cutting board as well once you’re done.
- Take out your 1/2 LB of Bacon and dice it into small pieces
- If you stack the pieces on top of one another and cut going side to side, the width should be thin little strips that at bite size.
- In a mixing bowl, combine your produce (shallot, bell pepper & lemon zest), bacon, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, olive oil, and S&P. Cut your lemon in half – cut it across the waist line, not from one end to another. Squeeze out the juice, be careful no pits from the lemon fall in!
- The mixture should be semi moist. We don’t want this extremely wet, nor do we want this dry. It should be moist enough that you could press the contents into a ball and they stick together.
Step 2: Lets Get Cracking
If you’d like to follow along via video – please click the link below and watch Tyler open a clam.
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This may be harder than you think, so have patience and remember its okay to yell at the clams when they wont open for you. If you cant open one, thats okay – give it a rest and pick another.
- Wash / Scrub each clam under cold water and place back in an empty mixing bowl or tray.
- Fold a dish towel and place it in your left hand. You’ll place this over the clam to prevent the knife from hitting your skin, and also to stabilize the clam because they tend to slip around on the cutting board.
- Look for the “knot” or “hinge” which is most elevated part of the clam (see image below) and open you
Open each clam, drain juice into sink/garbage and place 1 of the clam shells with the meat facing up on your baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
Step 3: Lets stuff some Clams
- Now that your clams are shucked we’re going to combine our wet mix and the clam meat.
- One by one, take a handful of stuffing, include the meat from the clam and form a dome of stuffing over the clam shell.
- Repeat this for every clam
- Once the clams are stuffed, drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil over the top of each clam so they brown in the oven.
Step 4: Bake and Eat
- Place your baking sheet of clams in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Halfway through, you can rotate the tray for an even bake.
- At 35 minutes, with a toothpick check to see if the interior of the clams are still moist. The top of the clams should be a nice browned color as another check point.
- If you need another 10 minutes, so be it!
- Remove the clams from the oven when they’re ready (remember they’ll be HOT), and enjoy.
Video: follow along on YouTube for a step by step guide!
This is a quick video if you watch how to make clams casino
Shop the tools I use, here:
- Band Aids for when the Clam fights back!