Ingredients

• 2 dozen Little Neck Clams

• 1 Lemon (large) 

• ⅓ cup Breadcrumbs (plain) 

• 1 Yellow Onion 

• 1 Red Pepper 

• 4 cloves Garlic

• ⅓ cup Parmesan Cheese 

• 1 Egg

• 1 cup Pinot Grigio Wine

• 1 stick Butter

• ⅓ tsp Parsley (chopped)

• 2 Tomatoes

• 1 tsp Thyme 

• Salt (to taste) 

• 2 tbsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

• Vito & Joe’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

How to Prepare

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cut the lemon into wedges.

3. Finely chop the yellow onion.

4. Peel and rough chop the garlic.

5. Dice the red pepper and deseed it.

6. De-flesh and dice the tomatoes.

7. Rinse and clean the clams.

8. In a deep sauce pot with a tight fighting lid, add ¼ cup of Vito & Joe’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

9. Heat over medium heat.

10. Add the onions and cook for 3 -5 minutes until the onions just become tender.

11. Add in the garlic to the onions and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

12. Add the butter and cook just until it is melted.

13. Once the butter is melted, add the pepper, about 4 lemon wedges, ½ of the diced tomatoes and red peppers, thyme, 1 cup of the wine and ¾ of the parsley.

14. Leave enough parsley for garnishing at the end.

15. Add the clams and cook for 7 – 10 minutes covered until they open.

16. While the clams are cooking, in a small dish mix the egg, parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.

17. Set aside.

18. Once the clams are finished, use tongs and remove them from the pot.

19. Set aside on a baking sheet.

20. Strain the tomatoes from the butter and wine sauce mixture using a colander and.

21. Do not discard the butter and wine sauce. Keep it in a large bowl.

22. Add the strained tomatoes to the breadcrumb mixture and a couple spoonsful of the butter sauce to make a nice e breadcrumb paste.

23. Remove the lids from the clams and gently loosen the clam from its shell.

24. Add a generous scoop of the breadcrumbs mixture to each of the clams.

25. Put the clams in the oven at 357 degrees for 5 minutes.

26. Followed by 5 minutes on broil.

27. Plate the clams when finished with the remaining lemon wedges, fresh parsley and tomatoes. Enjoy!