We Cook! – Portuguese Stuffies and RI Quahog Week

From April 23-29, 2023, Quahog Week highlights the many restaurants, markets, fishermen, and food-based businesses committed to growing Rhode Island’s local food economy, with special emphasis on quahogs. Restaurants and markets across Rhode Island will celebrate this sustainable resource and its year-round availability by featuring a quahog dish on their menu.

Quahog Week shines a light on our state’s favorite local clam, the hard-working men and women who harvest them, and the vibrant local food industry that makes them available to consumers. Quahogging has a rich history locally, supporting the livelihoods of hundreds of Rhode Island fishermen and women year-round, as well as serving as a treasured pastime for Rhode Island families who enjoy digging their own. Demand for these delicious local clams swells in the summer months due, in large part, to the popularity of fresh-shucked littlenecks, clam cakes, and stuffies. But they also make the perfect fare for chowders, pasta, and other dishes year-round.

For restaurants and markets: Simply fill out the restaurant participation entry form (it’s free), spread the word, and we’ll do the rest! Sign-up to participate here. Already signed up? Access the Quahog Week marketing toolkit here.

To see who is participating go here: https://seafood.ri.gov/quahog-week – check out a fish market where quahogs are available – and participating restaurants!

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WE COOK: Rhode Island Portuguese Stuffies

Ingredients

* 6 large quahog clams
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1/4 cup chopped chourico
* 1/3 cup diced onion
* 1/3 cup diced green pepper
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon Portuguese hot sauce (optional)
* 1/2 loaf Portuguese masa (sweet bread), cubed
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
* 1 tablespoon masa de pimenta (red pepper paste)
* 1 1/2 cups white bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a medium pot over high heat and bring 1 to 2 inches of water to a boil. Add the quahogs and cover the pan. Steam them until they open, at least 6 minutes. Discard any quahogs that do not open. Strain broth and reserve 1/4 cup. Remove the quahogs from the shells (leaving the shells intact; do not snap apart) and chop the meat.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the chourico, onions, and green pepper and cook until the vegetables soften, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the chopped clam meat, lemon juice, and hot sauce and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.

In a large mixing bowl, pour the chourico mixture over the cubed bread and add the cilantro, parsley, red pepper paste, bread crumbs and clam broth. Mix gently, and then stuff the each clam shell with about 3/4 cup of clam stuffing. Wrap the clam shells in aluminum foil and bake until heated through, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

This recipe has been widely shared and believed to have originated here: – Recipe Courtesy of Rachel Ray for FoodTV.com – and was shared by Narragansett Beer.