Chorizo-Stuffed Baked Quahog Clams

Discard any clams that are cracked, chipped, or open. Soak the others in a bowl of water for 20 minutes to clean them. Once clams have soaked, scrub them one by one with a brush to remove any additional sand or barnacles.

In a large pot, bring the water and wine to a boil. Add the clams, celery, carrot, garlic, onion, and lemon. Cover and steam over high heat until they open, about 5 minutes. Transfer the clams to a bowl to cool. Through a mesh strainer pour the broth (clam juice) into a large glass measuring cup, stopping when you reach the grit at the bottom of the pot. Set aside.

Pull off the top shell and remove the clams from the bottom shells. Place the shells on a baking sheet.

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a food processor, coarsely chop the clams.

In a large non-stick skillet, cook the chorizo over moderate heat, breaking up the clumps; stir until nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Scrape the chorizo into a large bowl.

In the same skillet add the olive oil and melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery and bell pepper and saute until onion is clear. Add the lemon juice, wine or stock and reserved clam juice, and stir well scraping any bits off the bottom of the skillet. Remove from heat and add clams and chorizo; mix well. Now add the panko, half of the paprika, salt, pepper, oregano and parsley. Stir together gently. If the mixture is too dry add more clam juice; if it’s too wet add more panko,

Stuff each clam to the brim, sprinkle with remaining paprika and bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 20 minutes.

If desired squeeze with lemon juice before eating.

Note: If you don’t have access to fresh clams, you can substitute two 6.5 ounce cans of minced clams, drained with juice reserved, for the 15 fresh clams.