This clam and chorizo with white wine sauce recipe is packed with flavor. Clams and chorizo are cooked with white wine and clam juice and garnished with a touch of lemon zest and parsley. Grab a piece of bread for dunking.
Serve this clams and chorizo recipe with a baguette or over linguine or zucchini noodles.
Prepare Clams for Clam and Chorizo With White Wine Sauce
Clams need to be alive when cooked. Many places give you clams wrapped in a plastic bag, which they should not do, as the little guys need to breathe to stay alive.
Immediately open the bag and transfer clams to a bowl of ice when you get home and keep them in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
Dead clams will be open before cooking, so trash them. Clams that have not opened after cooking should also be trashed. Don't try to pry them open.
Rinse clams before cooking. They are notoriously sandy. Soak clams in ice water with 1-2 tablespoon salt for 30 minutes and rinse off again.
Chances are that you will not be able to get all the sand off.
Any sand that's left will stay at the bottom of the pot when cooking. When pouring your broth into a bowl, leave ~ ¼ of the liquid (and all of the sand) in the pan. This prevents a sandy broth. You can also strain the broth.
Variations On Clam and Chorizo with White Wine Sauce
Don't have or can't find clam juice? Use water or chicken broth instead.
Can't find chorizo? Ok - use mild or hot Italian sausage.
Clams and chorizo is versatile. Leave out the parsley if you don't have it or substitute thyme, sage, or basil instead.
Use Mexican Chorizo AKA Raw Chorizo with Clams
Mexican chorizo is raw chorizo and still needs to be cooked. The other kind of chorizo is called Spanish and it is dry cured and can be eaten raw.
Raw Mexican chorizo is crumbly in texture when cooking. The texture is not like Italian sausage which is hard to break up when cooking.
Things In My Kitchen:
- Spiralizer - for making zucchini noodles "zoodles" if I'm feeling like I want a lighter meal.
- Microplane Zester - for zestin' the lemon.
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Clams and Chorizo in White Wine Sauce
EatSimpleFood.com
This clam and chorizo with white wine sauce recipe is packed with flavor. Clams and chorizo is freshened up with a touch of lemon zest, clam juice, and fresh parsley. Grab a piece of bread for dunking.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 As Appetizer; 3 As Main
- Category: Dinner / Appetizer
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ pound of ground raw chorizo (AKA Mexican chorizo)
- ⅓ cup onions, diced
- 1 Tbsp garlic, sliced
- ¾ cup white wine
- 2 cups clam juice
- 24 littleneck clams, rinsed & scrubbed
- zest from one lemon
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 baguette - (optional)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rinse clams and discard any that are open. Optional: soak in ice water with 1-2 tablespoon salt for 30 minutes if clams are extra sandy.
- Bring a large pan to medium high heat and add butter, olive oil, chorizo, onions.
- Cook ~ 5-7 minutes or until chorizo is cooked through.
- Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Add white wine and clam juice.
- Bring to a boil and add clams.
- Cover and cook an additional 5-7 minutes or until the clams have opened. Trash any clams that have not opened (they are bad).
- Remove clams to a large bowl as they open.
- Remove sausage with a slotted spoon (place in clam bowl) and pour most of the broth into your bowl, careful to check for any sand in the pan, just in case.
- Zest lemon first and then juice. Add 2 tablespoon lemon juice and garnish with lemon zest and parsley.
- Serve with crusty baguette for dipping or serve over pasta or zoodles. Add salt to taste.
Notes
- Clams will nearly always have some dirt, sand, or mud in them even if you rinse them with great care. The sand will stay at the bottom of your pot when cooking. When pouring your broth into a bowl, leave ~ ¼ to ⅓ of the liquid (and all of the sand) in the pan. This prevents a sandy broth.
- Don't have clam juice? Use water or chicken broth.
Serving Suggestion
Serve this Clam and Chorizo dish with complementary recipes like (can you tell I like to combine this dish with the acidity from tomatoes?!):
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