Clams For Clam-haters

Total Time: 10 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 2
• 24 manilla clams (~12 per person) or 24 mussels (~12 per person)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter (separated)
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped (separated)
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, julienned
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 1 cup clam juice
• 2/3 cup breadcrumbs, seasoned
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated (i prefer grano padano for this)

Recipe

• 1 scrub clam shells well. in a small glass bowl, microwave/melt half of the butter. in a dutch oven, heat olive oil and the remaining half of the butter on medium heat. sauté the garlic lightly. remove half of the garlic from the dutch oven and add it to the melted butter.
• 2 in a small skillet, toast the breadcrumbs. pour the melted butter/garlic over the crumbs. stir in the cheese. toast a bit more, then set aside.
• 3 into the dutch oven with the oil, butter, and garlic mixture, add the basil, sherry, and clam juice. bring to a rapid boil and reduce a bit. add a little salt and a good portion of pepper. drop in the clams and cover with tight lid. cook for 4 -5 minutes. remove lid, stir well. if all are open, great – if not, re-cover and cook for another minute or so. remove any that are not open.
• 4 place open clams into serving bowls. add ½ of the broth. sprinkle generously with breadcrumb mixture. pour remaining broth over breadcrumbs. garnish with extra basil. dive in!