Anna's Family Kitchen was inspired by my love of food and desire to feed my family healthy, home cooked wholesome meals that are beautifully presented and appealing but don’t require hours of prep in the kitchen.
Clam Chowder
My fishmonger asked me to develop this recipe as so many of his customers had asked how to make a good chowder.
Normally a clam chowder would contain bacon but as I love chorizo with shellfish (ok, I just love chorizo full stop) I thought I’d do two versions and have a taste off! Whether you use bacon or chorizo, don’t stew it in the stock. It’s better fried off first so that it adds texture at the end. It’s Chorizo all the way for me! The oil it releases took the chowder to another level.
Serves: 4
Prep: 5 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
INGREDIENTS
1 onion finely chopped
1 1/2 kg clams
500ml water
50g butter
2 tbsp plain flour
60ml wine
200ml milk
150g cooking chorizo diced
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 potatoes peeled and cubed
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Rinse the clams thoroughly. Tap any clams that are open and discard any that don’t close.
Cover the clams with 1/2 litre of boiling water. Simmer for 2 minutes with the lid on.
Strain the clams into a colander with a bowl underneath to catch the cooking liquid. This is going to be your stock.
Discard any clams that don’t open and remove the shells from most or all of the others (I like to keep shells on some for presentation). Set aside.
Soften the butter in a pan and when melted stir in the flour so you have a paste. Whisk in the wine followed by the milk so you have a thick sauce. Now whisk in the clam stock.
Add the potatoes, bay and thyme, season with lots of black pepper and 1/4 tsp salt and simmer for 10 minutes. Crush some of the potatoes with a fork leaving the rest chunky.
Stir in the clams and heat through whilst you prep the chorizo.
In a dry hot pan cook the chorizo for 1-2 minutes (or bacon lardons for 7-8 minutes) until crispy. Spoon over the chowder and serve.
