Lovely as an appetizer or a side! We usually have Sunday dinner at my family's house since most of us live in town. Based on when the football games, basketball games, etc. occur, sometimes "dinner" get pushed to 2 or 3 pm. This weekend was one of those! So, by actual dinner time, we still weren't that hungry and this was the perfect tapa! It can easily be doubled!
What you need...
12 little neck or mahogany clams
3-4 slices of uncured bacon (I used pork shoulder bacon with much less fat), cooked & drained
2 tablespoons butter of ghee
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 shallot, minced
2 cups fresh spinach well chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon cream sherry
salt
pepper
1/2 cup ricotta
Preheat oven to broil. Line baking sheet with foil - I ALWAYS do this for easy clean up! Rinse clams and lay out on baking sheet. Place them under broiler for about 5 minutes until they open. Remove top shells and discard. Using a spoon, scrape all clam into bottom shell, place back onto pan. Meanwhile, add the butter to a sauté pan and heat to medium/high heat. Add onion & garlic and cook tossing for about 2 minutes or until translucent. Add parsley and spinach and stir while you continue to cook for about 1 minute until spinach is wilted, add ricotta, salt & pepper. Continue cooking and stirring until all is well combined. Remove from heat. Gently spoon the spinach mixture event into all the clams. Top with reserved bacon crumbles. Broil for about 7 minutes until ricotta mixture begins to brown at the tips and bacon is crispy. Don't walk away! Broil can get away from you FAST!!!
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| What you need... |
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| Cook bacon ahead, drain on a paper towel and reserve for later. Drain all bacon fat. |
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| Add butter or ghee to a saute pan along with onion and garlic, cook for a couple minutes on medium/high heat. |
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| When translucent... |
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| Add spinach and parsley... |
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| Stir until wilted... |
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| Add ricotta, pepper and salt... |
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| Place clams under the broiler for 5 minutes or until they begin to open. Remove top shells, scraping all of the muscle into the bottom shell. |
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| Gently fill each clam with the spinach/ricotta mixture. |
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| Top with bacon crumbles and broil for 7-10 minutes - keep your eye on these! |
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| Enjoy! |
The ingredients list has sherry...but not in the recipe instructions?
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