Razor Clam Pizza

[Caldwell]

My wife and I each got our share of the razors last week, so we are currently rich in clams and I came up with this. The inspiration is our favorite pizza place, Al Forno in downtown Olympia, which has a clam pizza with white sauce on the menu. The clams can be a bit tough on theirs (and this is a very nit-picky criticism; it is my favorite restaurant dish anywhere in the South Sound region) because they are presumably precooked to some degree and then baked, so I thought raw razor clam strips would be an alternative, and the results were excellent. They roast just enough to be warmed through and to develop nice flavor and aroma but without getting tough at all.

DOUGH

I used the recipe from Peter Reinhart's book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, which is summarized nicely at http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html. I didn't have time for the recommended 24-hour fermentation of the dough but mine ended up fine after only four or so hours.

SAUCE

I pureed three cloves of garlic and about three ounces of shredded Parmesean cheese (plus some salt and pepper of course) in the blender with about 1/3 cup of olive oil until smooth. Then I thinned the mixture with whole milk (in this instance less than 1/4 cup) until it achieved an easily spreadable consistency (about like softened butter).

TOPPINGS

Razor clam feet, sliced 1/4" thick. That's it. For two ~14" pizzas, I used the feet from about ten clams or so.

ASSEMBLING THE PIES

Roll out the dough thinly. Spread on the sauce. Top with just enough shredded Parm and Mozzarella to form a thin, even layer, then top with the raw clam strips. I had my oven as high as it goes, 500 degrees, with a pizza stone. Baked one at a time on the stone, each pizza took about seven minutes. After baking, each pie was finished with fresh whole oregano leaves, which is a direct ripoff of what Al Forno does.

My other ideas for razor utilization are ceviche, fritters, chowder, and of course fried clam strips. I'd love to see some chowder or fritter recipe posts by other clammers!

[kzoo]

Creative!

I typically just do a standard chowder. For frying, I go with Japanese Honey Panko breading.

[natetreat]

Wow! I dunno though, I love me my razor clams fried. Dredge in flour, egg and then panko and deep fry for 20-30 seconds. That's what we've been eating for dinner for the past week! Man, they're good. But I may try your pizza, it sound good!

[racfish]

Ive eaten Razors most ways. fried is still best but I also like a olive oil , lemon , and orange juice mainade. I clean and par boil quicly then set them in the marinade for a few days in the reefer. I do this with my white kings also.