Italian Stuffed Baked Clams

5 from 1 vote

Baked Clams are a staple appetizer in my house, especially on Christmas Eve. Get your clams already shucked and ask to take the shells home. You can have baked clams on the table in under 30 minutes.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: baked clams

Calories: 73kcal

Author: Vincent DelGiudice

Cost: $20

Equipment

1 baking sheet
1 shucking knife
1 small saucepan

Ingredients

12 Top neck clams
1 cup breadcrumbs
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoon lemon

Lemon Garlic Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ cup white wine

Instructions

Scrub the clams in running water of any sand or debris. Purge your clams by placing them in a cold salt water bath for 2-3 hours. Remove from the water and rinse and scrub with your hands to remove any remaining sand.
If you didn't buy your clams already shucked, you'll have to shuck them now. Keep them on ice, slip your shucking knife in between the shell, and pop them open. If this is something you've never done before, I recommend buying them pre-shucked. Preheat the oven to 400°
Combine breadcrumbs, olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, garlic, and lemon. Chop the clams. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and mix until homogenous. Add clam juice a tablespoon at a time until the breadcrumb mixture is sticky but not wet.
Stuff the clams with about 1-2 tablespoon of stuffing. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on each clam. Bake in oven for 20 minutes.
In a small frying pan, add butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Then add wine and lemon juice and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove the clams from the oven and drizzle with the lemon garlic butter sauce.

Notes

Purging clams is extremely important. If not done, it will taste like you're eating sand. Make sure to rinse between steps to remove as much sand as possible.
Shucking clams is also time consuming. You can skip both of these steps by asking for the clams to be shucked for you, which can be really helpful during the holidays, especially when you're cooking a bunch of different recipes.
Use a large clam, like top neck clams for baked clams. They have more meat and a bigger shell to stuff.
If you're in doubt about the texture of the breadcrumbs and clams, just add more olive oil. You want the texture of slightly wet sand.

Nutrition