Clams in Garlic and White Wine Sauce

Clams are seasonal and commonly available in summer months in local stores. I am a big time sea food lover and always in a hunt for a good bargain. I could not believe my eyes when I saw these beautiful jumbo clams are on sale in my local fish market. I bought two dozen of them home and soaked them up for 1 hr to get any excess sand or dirt out.

When you buy clams, be sure all the clams are tightly closed; otherwise you need to throw the unopened ones later in the cooking process. Today I am going to make a great appetizer dish, clams in garlic and white wine sauce. This dish is so simple and rich, the resulting sauce is better than the clams themselves.

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Ingredients

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or butter)

6 garlic cloves, smashed

1/3 cup Italian parsley, chopped

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 lb fresh clams 

1 red onion; chopped

1 small red bell pepper thinly chopped

1 green chili (optional)

Directions:

1.In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat; add garlic, half of the parsley, chopped onion, bell pepper and the hot pepper flakes; fry for 1 minute. Add wine; bring to boil over medium high heat.

2.Add clams, cover and steam until clams open, about 5 minutes. Discard any clams that do not open.
Sprinkle the remaining parsley.

3.Ladle clams into small bowls and offer plenty of crusty bread to soak up the delicious broth.