This Chorizo and Clams post is kind of a cheat. That’s because by the time you’ve read the last word you won’t really have an exact recipe. The kind of recipe you could follow precisely and (hopefully) end up staring at a bowl of clams that look an awful lot like the one you see here. But you’re a good cook I know you are, so I’m sure you can deal with my little “cheat”.
It started this way.
Sunday mornings at my house are for the farmers market. Well, they used to be. The farmers market was one of those weekly things Ken and I did together. However, as my caregiving responsibilities have changed and grown over the past couple of years they’ve managed to creep into my market mornings. At first just little by little week to week. But lately, I just send Ken to the farmers market all on his own. It’s better for my pantry than skipping the trip altogether.
This past Sunday Ken came home with clams. Perfect for a quick Sunday supper. Chorizo and Clams can be so simple. A splash of wine, a knob of butter, and herbs from the garden. Set the bowl next to a loaf of crusty bread and you’ve got dinner. It would be delicious, but it would not warrant a post.
Which means this post was never meant to be.
Until it was…
It started because I made a soffritto. If you don’t know, a soffritto is a culinary building block. A lot of my impromptu cooking starts with soffritto, though I make it a little differently each time. A tomato soffritto can be a five-hour process in Thomas Keller’s hands, or it can be almost as simple as a mirepoix. The soffrito for these clams was made with red bell pepper, onion, a lot of garlic (a whole bulb), rosemary, dried chili, and smoked paprika. It took me about an hour and it turned out very well. Suddenly my simple Chorizo and Clams farmers market dinner had the potential to be special. Special enough for a post.
This is where my post and recipe start to “cheat”.
Chorizo and Clams with Braised Kale and Soffritto
You see I didn’t follow a recipe when I started with the soffritto and I didn’t write down what I did. I could have recreated the steps from memory I suppose. I make a soffritto in a similar fashion quite often. But that might be considered cheating anyway. If you’re going to cheat – cheat big I say. So I cheated again with the kale. I braised it with olive oil, white wine, and rosemary. And guess what – I didn’t write it down.
So when you come to the recipe section of this post you may notice my cheat. I simply call for a cup of soffritto and a cup of well-chopped braised kale — as nonchalantly as if these were ingredients I’d expect you keep in your pantry every day anyway. GREG
Though there are a million variations, it’s all the same thing: Sofrito (Spanish), sofregit (Catalan), soffritto (Italian) or refogado (Portuguese).
Chorizo and Clams with Kale and Soffritto
Print This Recipe Yield 4–6Source Inspired by David LentzPublishedSoffritto is a culinary building block often used in soups, stews, and sauces. Recipes can be found online and premade versions are available in some markets.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 9 ounce Mexican pork chorizo (uncured)
- 1 cup soffritto (strained)
- 1 cup braised Tuscan kale (well-chopped)
- 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 2 cup white wine
- 2 cup chicken stock
- 3 pound littleneck clams (scrubbed)
- 2 teaspoon cider vinegar
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 4–6 slice rustic bread (lightly toasted)
- 4–6 lemon wedges
Directions
In a large heavy pot with a lid warm the oil over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook, breaking it up as it cooks. Once the meat is opaque and cooked through stir in the soffritto, kale, and chickpeas.
Bring the temperature to high and pour in the wine and stock, using a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan as the liquid comes to a boil.
Once it begins to boil lower the heat to a simmer. Add the clams and cover the pot. Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the clams open, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the lid, add the vinegar, taste the broth and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately with toasted bread slices and lemon wedges on the side.
At last! Greg, it is so good to see how you have managed to convey how most of us feel as we go about constructing our sofritto or mire poix. The things we end up with……… A handful of this, a pinch of that. A bucketful of something else……..Bliss! I can hear the love from here. 🙂 Caz [Australia]
It’s OK as long as you are a good cheat. I’m guessing I know the answer to that. And what kind of farmers’ market has clams. I’m guessing those in LA. I could kick my self for all the times I never wrote down a recipe. But then I’d be covered with bruises!
You know how sometimes a recipe will come along and you get really excited about it? This is one of them for me. I can almost taste it and can’t wait to try it.
I’m with John (Kitchen Riffs), creating recipes for the blog is hard work, the measuring, the testing etc. A ”recipe” that comes together on the fly like this one, is a wonderful non-recipe for the blog. And is the perfect reason to gather ’round the table for a meal. It’s how I cook every day. Plus, I do it with other people’s recipes all the time, tweaking it to my taste. Definitely bookmarking for our next trip to Spain.
PS, sorry to hear Ken’s Mom needs more of your care. My Mom’s husband was her primary care giver and he used to take her to senior day care to give himself (and her) a break a couple of days a week.
I love non-recipe recipes. This will be great with my homemade chorizo, and I’ve never thought of a Sofrito as a condiment… But it makes perfect sense!
Omg this is wonderful. I never knew there was a sofrito and a soffrito. Good to know! Clams and chorizo. Nuff said.
My hubby loves clams and pork but doesn’t like vegetables. This would be a great way to sneak some into the meal. I always enjoy reading your posts.
I really admire that kind of cooking, Greg!
I’m totally ready to cheat. My dad comes over every Thurs night for dinner and this is exactly — I mean exactly — the kind of meal he loves the most. I’m going to give it a go for him this week or next. We will all love it, I’m sure.
You cook the way most of us probably do. It’s actually work to write down recipes — measurements? Who uses those? But they’re necessary in a recipe, even though you know next time you make the dish you’ll use different measurements. Anyway, this looks terrific. Neat way to use clams. Thanks.