3 dozen littleneck clams
¼ cup olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
canned anchovies
1 cup dry white wine
28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes
2 tsp dried oregano
dried basil
fresh parsley
Red pepper flakes
bread, for croutons
Scrub
- 3 dozen littleneck clams
At some point, make the croutons, at bottom of this recipe. Heat in 2-3 quart soup pot
- ¼ cup olive oil
Add, keeping heat low enough it does not brown:
- 2 TBL finely minced garlic
Cook briefly and add
- 6 anchovy fillets
Cook until the anchovies break down into a paste. Add
- 1 cup white wine
and simmer for a minute. Open
- 28-ounce can of San Marzano or other plum tomatoes
Chop up tomatoes a bit (you can remove the seeds if you care to), discard a gross-looking piece of basil that seems to be hidden in every can and add all the tomatoes and liquid to the pot, along with
2 tsp dried oregano
1½ tsp dried basil
½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
½ to 1 tsp hot red pepper flakes
freshly ground pepper, to taste
Do not add salt: the anchovies have enough. Bring the pot to a boil and stir briefly. You may work up until this point and pause the recipe until 5 minutes before you with to eat. If you do so, turn off the heat.
Resume the recipe by bringing the soup to a boil. Add the cleaned clams and cover the pot for 5 minutes (or until all the clams open). Serve the soup, leaving the clams in the shells. Garnish with Garlic Croutons (see next paragraph).
To make the croutons, toast 8 slices of a baguette. When toasted, rub one side with the cut surface of a garlic clove you have cut in half.