A creamy and hearty clam soup, with tender potatoes and smoked bacon, in the classic New England style. It is mild, briny, comforting, and perfect with saltine crackers or toasted bread.
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg fresh clams
- 500 ml clam juice
- 120 g thick-cut smoked bacon
- 1 piece yellow onion
- 1 piece celery stalk
- 500 g waxy potatoes
- 25 g unsalted butter
- 20 g all-purpose flour
- 250 ml heavy cream
- 200 ml whole milk
- 1 leaf bay leaf
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- to taste fine salt
- to taste ground black pepper
- 0.25 bunches flat-leaf parsley
- 8 pieces saltine crackers
Method
- Rinse the clams under cold water, let them purge in cool salted water, then drain them; they must smell distinctly of the sea, never like ammonia.
- Sauté the smoked bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until it renders its fat and turns golden; remove it while keeping the fat in the pot.
- Add the finely diced onion and celery to the hot fat, then cook gently until they become translucent and sweet without browning.
- Stir in the butter, then sprinkle with flour and stir until you get a pale, smooth, and slightly biscuity base.
- Gradually whisk in the clam juice, add the diced potatoes, bay leaf, and thyme, then simmer until the potatoes are tender under the tip of a knife.
- Add the milk and cream, heating gently without boiling; the soup should become velvety and coat the back of a spoon.
- Stir in the shucked clams and the reserved bacon, then heat just enough to warm the clams through so they stay tender.
- Remove the bay leaf and thyme, taste, adjust the salt and pepper, then serve piping hot with chopped flat-leaf parsley and saltine crackers.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 1048.1 kcal
- Protein
- 96.55 g
- Carbohydrate
- 61.09 g
- Fat
- 43.1 g
- Fibre
- 3.62 g
- Calcium
- 75.78 mg
- Iron
- 1.17 mg
- Magnesium
- 10.81 mg
