Go All in on Clams Casino!

Clams Casino has to be one of my favorite bay recipes for both its simplicity and for being incredibly delicious. To find the clams check out the section on How-To Find Your Own Clams. You will want to use our bigger clams for this recipe (also known as chowder clams) since the shell will be the serving dish. Once you have the desired number of clams the hard work is over.  One key detail to mention is while splitting clams isnt extremely difficult, it does take some elbow grease. One way to make this task a whole lot easier is to freeze them overnight before trying to shuck them. By freezing the clams you accomplish two things: you don't lose the juice from the clams bc it is frozen and , secondly, the clam will separate making it easy to get a knife in between the shells to cut them open and expose the deliciousness inside.  The rest is pretty easy sailing:

Step 1: Split each clam by sliding a knife through the opening and slicing it in half. If you are using fresh clams you can take a knife and rest it on the lips where the two halves of shell meet and tap the back of the blade with a hammer until they split.

Step 2: Take each half of the shell and dice the clam while its still in the shell. Once you have diced it, place it into a bowl and set it aside. Do this until you have a bowl of diced clam. Make sure to rinse off and save the shells as you empty them.

Step 3: Add a dash of Basil , Old Bay, and  Garlic powder to the diced clams.

Step 4: On a cutting board, finely chop red onion, scallion, and some uncooked bacon.

Step 5:  Take one half of a clam shell, add one spoonful of diced clam, sprinkle scallion, onion and raw bacon to your liking on top. If you are like me you will most likely go a little heavy on the bacon. Set the clam shell carefully on a cooking sheet.

Step 6: Continue creating your filled clam shells and placing them on your cooking sheet until you have as many as you want to serve and then add six more because you WILL want more!

Step 7: Preheat your oven to 375 and cook for roughly 10 minutes. The key to the perfect Clams Casino is once the bacon is done, pull them out of the oven.

Step 8:  Enjoy your Clams Casino but also be careful as the shell is going to be HOTT! Don't be afraid to drink the juice. It tastes just like a shot of clam chowder.