Clam-Chowder Pizza
- Total Time
- About 1 hour 15 minutes, plus 1 hour heating time
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 8 servings
- 12medium-size quahog clams, usually rated “top neck” or “cherrystone,” rinsed
- 1½cups dry white wine
- 1tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¼pound slab bacon, diced
- 2leeks, tops removed, halved and cleaned, then thinly sliced into half moons
- 3cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 3tablespoons parsley, roughly chopped
- ½cup heavy cream
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 19-to-10-ounce ball pizza dough, ideally homemade (about 260 grams)
- 2¾ounces fresh mozzarella, roughly torn
- 1teaspoon lemon zest
- Calabrian or other red-pepper flakes, to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
417 calories; 22 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 665 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Place a pizza stone or tiles on the middle rack of your oven, and turn heat to its highest setting. Let it heat for at least an hour.
- Step 2
Put the clams in a large, heavy Dutch oven, add about 2 cups of water and ¾ cup of the wine, then set over medium-high heat. Cover, and cook until clams have opened, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. (Clams that fail to open after 15 to 20 minutes should be discarded.) Strain clam broth through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or doubled-up paper towels, and set aside. Remove clams from shells, chop roughly and set aside.
- Step 3
Rinse out the pot, and return it to the stove. Add butter, and turn heat to medium low. Add bacon, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the bacon has started to brown, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon from fat, and set aside.
- Step 4
Add the leeks to the fat, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and half of the parsley. Continue cooking and stirring until the leeks are soft but not brown, about 5 minutes more.
- Step 5
Stir in the remaining wine and approximately 1 cup of the reserved clam stock (save the rest for another use), and continue cooking until the liquids have reduced almost to syrup.
- Step 6
Add cream and black pepper. Let the mixture come to a bare simmer, then allow to reduce and thicken, then add reserved clams and remove from heat. (You can do all this the day before you make the pizza, then refrigerate until ready to use.)
- Step 7
Make the pizza. Lightly flour a work surface, and stretch or roll the dough into a 12-inch round. Place on a lightly floured pizza peel or rimless baking sheet. Using a pastry brush or a spoon, lightly paint the surface of the dough with some of the cream from the clams, leaving a half-inch border all around. Then top the pizza with the chopped clams, bacon and leeks, and the cheese. (If there is any remaining liquid, you can lightly – lightly! – drizzle the pie with it.)
- Step 8
Shake the pizza peel slightly to make sure the dough is not sticking. (Gently lift any sections that are sticking, and sprinkle the peel with flour.) Carefully slide the pizza directly onto the baking stone in one quick, forward-and-back motion. Cook until the crust has browned on the bottom and the top is bubbling and browning in spots, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley, the lemon zest and red-pepper flakes to taste, then serve.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Nancy
I've been making pizza for over 35 years. I don't think the baking stone and peel are necessary. After making the dough, I bake it on a lightly greased perforated pizza sheet (lots of little holes). I do not preheat the oven. I simply put the sheet on the bottom rack of the oven and then turn on the (electric) oven to 450. The combo of the broiler and the bottom element providing extra direct heat produces a lovely crust, that is crispy on the edges. Saves a lot of electricity. Tasty!
Bill O'Fallon
Just made this last night and it is one of the best --- maybe THE best --- pizzas I've ever had! I used three cans of clams and it's hard to believe fresh clams could have been better. I also used onions instead of leeks. Inspired recipe, Mr. Sifton!!
Charles Michener
My preference is clam pizza made without cheese or cream, which mute the brininess and tang of the clams. I pan roast the garlic in their skins first, then smear the pizza with an olive oil/roasted garlic paste. Then add the chopped clams, sprinkled with red pepper flakes (which taste better heated) and top with a gremolata of lemon zest, lots of parsley and finely chopped fresh garlic, dampened with a spoonful or two of the clam juice.
Swanny B
"As everyone knows, there is only one way to fry chicken correctly... Mine is the only right way and on this subject I feel almost evangelical." -Laurie Colwin
I wonder how the much-loved Laurie Colwin would be received today by readers who react negatively when food writers make declarations of their own. Some of the pushback is funny and thoughtful, but some is just plain mean.
I also can't help wondering whether there is talent out there that will never fully find its voice for fear of internet pile ons. I didn't always agree w/ Colwin's declarations, but I'm a better cook for wrassling with them in the kitchen. I'm glad she had the confidence and the space to share them, and I worry that bit by bit (or flare up by flare up) we are losing that space.
Hephaestis
Preheating and then holding the oven at max for an hour seems like a ridiculous way to super-size your carbon footprint. I preheat to 450 and let the oven stabilize for 5 minutes. That's plenty of time.
Like other commenters, I use the perforated steel pizza pan. Got mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for about 12 bucks. I used to use a nice pizza stone, but I found that the steel pan gives me crispier crust.
G
That abomination is hardly pizza at all.
connecticut yankee
The best clam pizza comes from Pepe's in New Haven. End of discussion.
Flimsky
Having worked with clammers for over 35 years, here is a suggestion about the clams. Buy Chowder sized clams...they are the best value in the seafood market. FREEZE THEM (5 hours should work) Put them in the sink and run tepid water over them and they will gape. Use a butter knife to pop them and then cut them into 6 to8 pieces. Put in a bowl to defrost. For most recipes, I'd use them as is, but this cooking time might want to start with more than raw, so I'd maybe put some olive oil and garlic in a skillet and just cook them a bit, and then put them on the pizza as per the recipe. NEVER cook them first to cook them again or you will get tough pieces of rubber. Love your clams don't kill them!
Roberta
I live near New Haven. We don't use bacon or mozzarella...or cream. It's not a chowder. Parmesan cheese. If you can come to NewHaven for the real white clam pizza...it's a treat!
Jim Kessler
My easy-peasey version: gently sauté 3-4 cloves of minced or pressed garlic in olive oil until just cooked. Add the juice (not clams) from 2 cans of minced or chopped clams. Reserve the clams. Cook until the sauce is reduced and thickened. Add 1-2 tbsp butter, chopped shrimp, the reserved clams and a handful of chopped parsley. Spread on pizza dough with (or without!) a sprinkling of grated Parmesan and cook according to your pizza recipe.
Tom
Manhattan Style will NOT be slighted in my kitchen tonight! Man the ramparts! Prepare the tomatoes! P.s. I shall report on my success - or failure - whatever. Hope springs eternal.
Steve
Frank Pepe, who invented clam pizza, was born in Maiori in Italy in 1893. Where were you born?
Jenness hall
Sam, you are a brilliant writer. Mesmerizing piece. TY.
John Nezlek
Sam (if I may),
Arguably, your best column, and the others are far from bad. I am in Warsaw now, but I will track down some clams.
Happy New Year,
John
lucy beauge
would someone please stop sifton before he writes again .....
Arroydee
This was wonderful.
Allie
Once I've gotten the clams out of the shell, the toss everything that remains, even the juice. Then I use Snow's clam juice because there can be tiny bits of sand that occasionally get through even the cheesecloth and the clam juice has none. I swear by it! Great authentic clam flavor too.
Jane Eyrehead
This is good. I like to add several grinds of black pepper to the pie dough.
BklynMom
Yes, yum. I've struggled with pizza, but this was a resounding success! I did add some small cubes of potatoes to give the full clam chowder effect and it was excellent. 3 cans of chopped clams and onions instead of leeks. But finally got the crust right -- thanks for the tip about the parchment -- plus used some cornmeal on the bottom for an excellent crunch (was always too gooey). Did cook much longer than 7 minutes (more like 15-20?).
Rolnrn
Riffed on this with what I had:about a pint of caramelized onions/their juice from freezer, sourdough crust, couple TBS vermouth, air dried shallots, couple cans clams/their juice, one ripe Cherokee Purple tomato from the garden(seeded etc), couple cans mushroom slices, enough coarse grated Pecorino-Romanoto cover. Baked on an upside-down Nordic Ware half sheet pan. Well worth the experiment!
Robin
I did 3 -All fabulous! A keeper!!
1- The Recipe- delicious but the bacon overpowers the clams
2- Recipe without bacon: more nuanced and balanced
3-no cream and a hard cheese from the island of Sardinia Italy (like a pecorino): completely different dish using a spectacular cheese rather than moz and cream
Verdict: make three each time!
jon@triguitalia for Sardinian cheeses near you (Boston,NY,San Fran,Seattle) or go direct to the website: triguitalia.com From the cheese makers to your table!
Ed
If you find your pizza sticking to the peel, first off, add a bit of corn meal to the flour on the peel. Secondly, lift an edge of the pizza and blow underneath the pizza. This will lift it off the peel. You might have to work your way around the pie, but usually just doing the front in a couple of places works well.
Ana Maria
I had a hard time reducing my clam stock/cream into a thick enough sauce and thus added a bit of sour cream to it to thicken it before spreading it on the pizza dough. Also used canned clams but would attempt recipe again with fresh ones and a second try at the sauce. Overall still a pretty tasty result though
Peg
Really enjoyed this pizza! Did not use a peel, but put the pizza on a pan with little holes and baked it on a pizza stone. I skipped the cream, but followed the rest of the recipe, yummy!
Charlie in Chapel Hill
Delicious recipe and easy dough (Falco's recipe). Make sure you have oven at max with a pizza stone and the crust comes out thin and crispy. Also, I reduced the leek topping to virtually no liquid.
Laurie Keene
I used David Tanis' Easy Pizza dough recipe as I have found the one listed in this recipe to be too delicate. I refrigerated the dough for 2 days before using and it was wonderful! The filling I made as the recipe directs. Double Yum!
Oliver in Key West
As any self-respecting Italian chef can tell you, you don't add cheese to a clam pasta or pizza. A far superior (and easier) recipe by the great Marian Burros appeared on these pages on March 8, 1987. It's still in my recipe box.
Chairmanpao
You're mostly right, Oliver, but the great Marcella Hazan used parmesan in her recipe for Fettuccine al sugo di vongole bianco (Fettuccine with white clam sauce) in her 1976 version of The Classic Italian Cook Book. She says that "this departure from tradition is justified and successful because it adds smoothness and delicacy to the sauce." And you can be sure that Marcella is a "self-respecting Italian chef!"
Chairmanpao
P.S. Is this the Marian Burros recipe? She also uses a little parmesan. Interesting: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/2889-white-clam-topping
Martha
Also, for the crispiest pizza, I recommend cooking on a heated pizza stone on your gas or charcoal grill.
Martha
Anyone else use parchment paper ? I put the parchment paper on the peel , sprinkle some cornmeal , and roll out the pizza dough, add toppings, and slide the whole thing on the the heated stone in the oven. I use the peel to remove the pizza when cooked, parchment paper and all. Never sticks. No fancy peel technique required
Jayeff
I have an electric counter top pizza oven and I ALWAYS use parchment. Great crusts, no stick, and no fat or oils left on the stone to become rancid.
Gayle
Yes, used parchment. There's enough stress in life without having to worry about whether your pizza will slide off the peel!
Golem18
If you scrunch up the parchment paper ahead of time and then smooth it out, it won't roll back. Makes using parchment a lot easier.
Martin
Used a pizza stone. 7 minutes is nowhere near enough time.
Also, don't try using anything other than a pizza peel to put this on the stone -- you're not going to be able to get a pizza this heavy and wet off a cutting board without ruining it, as some have suggested.
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