Ingredients
Units Scale
- 2 dozen small fresh Cherrystone clams
- 4 oz. salt pork – substitute bacon if you must, but salt pork is the authentic taste!
- 1/2 – 3 datil pepper, deseeded and minced (use half a pepper if you’re a wuss, 3 for true chili fiends – TFD typically includes 2, or use Datil Hot Sauce to taste
- 1 medium onion, diced in small pieces
- 1 large leafy stalk of celery, de-stringed, diced in small pieces including leaves (reserve leaves separately)
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 1 cup diced small red potatoes, peeled (2-3 total)
- 1 15–ounce can chopped tomatoes, San Marzano preferred
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste, San Marzano preferred
- 2 large cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh marjoram (preferred) or fresh oregano, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 8–ounce bottle Bar Harbor clam juice
- 2 cups homemade fish stock
Instructions
- Take the salt pork and cut it up into tiny pieces. Place in a soup pot and cook for 10 minutes.
- When the salt pork is browned, scoop out and place on a paper towel (leave the fat in pan) and with the remaining rendered fat, add the diced onion, celery, yellow pepper and carrots.
- Cook 5-10 minutes until the onions go translucent (clear). If there is not enough fat rendered off to cook the vegetables, add one tablespoon of olive oil.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and all the seasonings, including the Datils or hot sauce.
- Next add the clam juice and fish stock. Let it simmer on low heat for 1 hour. While simmering, prepare the clams.
- Directions for cooking clams:
- Place the 2-dozen fresh clams in a colander in the sink. Lightly scrub the outside of the clams and rinse to remove any dirt or sand.
- Place the clams in a large pan over medium high heat with ⅓ cup of water. Cover the pan and cook the clams for approximately 10 minutes. When the clams open, they are cooked. Remove from stove.
- Back at the sink, place the clams in the colander, let drain. Any clams that do not open, throw away.
- When the clams cool, remove the meat from the shells. Chop the clam meat in diced pieces. Discard the remaining clamshells. Set clams aside.
- Add one cup of the diced potatoes to the soup and cook approximately 20 minutes further or until the potatoes are tender.
- Add the chopped clams and cooked salt pork plus the reserved diced celery leaves. Cook just long enough until the clams and pork are heated through (5 minutes).
- Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. This is a soup that tastes even better reheated the next day.
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
