New England Clam Chowder
Creamy, briny and wonderfully comforting, this classic Boston chowder tastes like New England in every spoonful.
Ingredients
- 750 g fresh clams, or 500g prepared clam meat
- 100 g smoked bacon or salt pork, diced
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks, finely diced
- 500 g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
- 30 g plain flour
- 500 ml clam juice
- 300 ml whole milk
- 200 ml double cream
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 25 g butter
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- A few drops of Tabasco, optional
- Chopped fresh parsley, to finish
Instructions
- If using fresh clams, steam them in a covered pan with a splash of water until they open. Remove the meat and strain the cooking liquor. Discard any clams that remain closed.
- Fry the bacon in a large saucepan for 5–6 minutes until it releases its fat and starts to crisp.
- Add the onion and celery and cook gently for another 5 minutes.
- Add the butter and flour, stir well and cook for 2 minutes.
- Gradually add the clam juice, stirring continuously to prevent lumps.
- Add the potatoes, bay leaves and thyme. Simmer gently for 15–18 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Add the milk and cream and bring almost to the boil.
- Stir in the clams and cook for just 2–3 minutes. Don't overcook them or they'll become rubbery.
- Season with black pepper, salt if required and, if you like, a few drops of Tabasco.
- Finish with parsley and serve immediately.
- This is very much a New England-style chowder, traditionally based around clams, potatoes, salt pork or bacon and a creamy broth.
Add ingredients from Vickery TV straight to your favourite online supermarket
Notes
Don't turn it into seafood soup. You want a thick, creamy chowder where the clams and potatoes are the stars. And please don't start adding tomatoes — that's a completely different argument!
Nutrition
586
Calories
36G
Fat
20G
Saturates
12G
Sugars
727G
Salt
16G
Protein
50G
Carbs
4G
Fibre
ⓘ UK Government Reference Intakes (RIs).
