When I lived in the USA I discovered many interesting dishes. One of these was the New England Clam Chowder, a very rich and fatty potato and clam soup.
I adapted it once in Italy for a number of reasons: I hate onion with mussels, the cream that is very present in the American dish had to be reduced in quantity, I prefer chili pepper to pepper and I rarely mix pork with fish or mussels.
Clam chowder Italian style
- Preparation time: 30 minutes
- For 4 servings
- Difficulty: Easy recipe
- Ingredients
- 400 gr of clams
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 large potatoes
- 100 ml of double cream
- 1 clove of chili pepper
- Parsley to taste
- Salt to taste
- Instructions
- Prepare the clams. Throw away any broken clams. Allow the remaining clams to drain for at least three hours in very cold “sea water.” Sea water is made with 2 tablespoons of salt for every liter of or US quart of cold water and is mixed well until it is fully dissolved.
- Once the purging time is over, lightly tap every single clam on a surface or a chopping board to select the good ones from those that are only full of sand.
- In a pan with a ladle of boiling water cook the clams on a high heat, covering them with a lid. The clams are ready when they have the valves open – it takes just a couple of minutes of cooking for this to happen.
- Remove from heat and place in a bowl covered with cellophane. Place the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice water to cool the shellfish.
- Wash, dry and finely chop the parsley.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces.
- In a saucepan with oil, a piece of chili pepper and the clove of garlic, cook for few minutes the potatoes. Remove the garlic and chili pepper and add 1 liter of water, continuing to cook for twenty minutes until the potatoes are well cooked. Take half and blend it.
- Now add the liquid from the clams and the cream.
- Add the clams and chopped parsley, turn off the heat and let the soup rest for a few minutes.
- Season with salt if necessary before serving.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- If you want to spend less, instead of clams you can use lupins. It is equally delicious.
- If you want you can use half the water and create, instead of a soup, a perfect sauce for short pasta.