Extravagant buttered lobster rolls and briny oysters top the gustatory bucket lists of most summer visitors to New England’s shore. But among many denizens of the sandy precincts stretching from Cape Cod through southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, a humbler bite is equally beloved: the stuffed quahog — or “stuffie,” in local parlance.
A species of hard-shelled Atlantic clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) that can grow as fat as a fist, quahogs prefer the mild estuaries of southern New England to the frigid, saline open waters up north. The tidal shallows around Narragansett Bay are especially hospitable, a quirk of ecology thatap fostered a particular passion for the dish among Rhode Islanders. (In 2023, a cadre of 7-foot-tall stuffie statues were deployed around the country as the centerpiece of a state tourism campaign.)
Though cousins to clams casino and clams oreganata, stuffies reflect a diversity of influences unique to this watery corner of the country. The Wampanoag and other Algonquian peoples had been harvesting quahogs for millennia before the arrival of Europeans. But modern stuffie recipes are characterized by both a “make-do and use-it-up” spirit of Yankee thrift and ingredients like chouriço and linguiça sausage that arrived in the 1800s with the Portuguese, Azorean and Cape Verdean migrants who built communities around the region’s marine industries and textile mills.
When Marcey Bartnicki was growing up in the South Coast town of Acushnet, Massachusetts, in the 1980s, pit stops at takeout clam shacks were a fundamental part of the rhythm of summer. “Clam cakes, stuffies, I thought everybody knew what those were,” she said. After moving inland to Nashua, New Hampshire, however, she was dismayed to find herself in a stuffie desert. To satisfy cravings, she realized she’d need to make her own.
Happily, stuffies are not only suited to home cooking but, once prepped, freeze exceptionally well, souvenirs of the shore that can be socked away for colder, darker days.
Diehards may insist on digging their own clams. But should you lack will or proximity, many grocery stores and well-stocked fish markets supply clams year-round, or they can get them for you if you call ahead. (Bartnicki buys her fixings at Market Basket.) When fresh isn’t an option, seek out containers of chopped raw sea clams, another large species that fishmongers often sell frozen. (Though don’t forget: You’ll need to get your hands on some clamshells, too.)
Quahog clams are sometimes better known by names they are assigned according to size, which include petite littlenecks, midsize topnecks and hefty cherrystones. The largest ones are also called quahogs, or sometimes chowder clams. You want the big boys for this.
Mac Hay, founder of Mac’s Seafood, which operates markets and restaurants across Cape Cod, started making stuffies alongside his grandfather during childhood summers at the family home in Truro, Massachusetts. Back then, Hay said, they used whatever the tide provided — quahogs or sea clams. After steaming, chopping and reserving the stock, the rest of the formula was elemental: diced onion, celery and a bit of pork fat (usually Portuguese linguiça sausage or bacon), bound with breadcrumbs, mounded into a shell and baked until golden.
Hay’s methods have grown a bit more sophisticated since. Nowadays, he adds white wine, garlic, fresh herbs, crushed crackers (often gluten-free) instead of plain breadcrumbs and, to really punch it up, a finishing hit of sherry, a trick from Howard Mitcham, a colorful local artist and chef who was an early guru for Anthony Bourdain. One element that hasn’t altered: Portuguese sausage. “If you tried to make a stuffie without linguiça in Provincetown,” Hay said, “they’d probably shoot you.”
In her kitchen, Bartnicki follows a slightly different blueprint, folding in bits of sweet red pepper and forgoing garlic and wine. For a binder, she typically reaches for stale Portuguese rolls or leftover sweet bread — though, on this point, there is abundant flexibility. Other cooks cite crushed Ritz crackers or Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix as go-tos. Toasted cornbread cubes lend an especially appealing edge of sweetness.
But taking a rigid approach to ingredients runs counter to the spirit of the dish. “Stuffies are tavern food,” Hay said. “They’re easy to prepare, hard to mess up and a good source of protein, too” — ideal fortification alongside a few beers or a bottle of Vinho Verde.
Both agree that, to preserve their tenderness, quahogs ought to be steamed briefly, just until opening and finely chopped. For the fullest flavor of the sea, the stuffing should be deeply moistened with clam cooking broth and then generously scooped (but not tightly packed) into cleaned shells. Topping each one with a knob of butter before baking lends a final layer of richness and crunch. Besides the aforementioned beverages, lemon wedges and a bottle of vinegary hot sauce are all the accompaniments needed.
In other words: Avoid fuss, and feel free to follow the spirit of summer where it moves you. “Stuffies are kind of like grandma’s Sunday gravy,” Hay said. “Everyone’s got their own angle.”
Stuffies (New England-Style Stuffed Clams)
A canonical coastal New England comfort food, “stuffies” are large clamshells packed with briny chopped quahog clams, smoky sausage, dried bread and aromatics, all baked until golden. Though a close cousin of clams casino and clams oreganata, this shoreline treat reflects influences unique to the region stretching from Cape Cod south to Rhode Island — including a “make do” spirit of Yankee thrift and ingredients introduced in the 1800s by the Portuguese, Azorean and Cape Verdean migrants who built communities around the area’s marine industries and textile mills. Though the outlines of stuffie recipes are fairly standard, they offer endless opportunities for riffing. Can’t find fresh quahogs? Ask your fishmonger for chopped sea clams. Avoiding bread? Substitute crushed gluten-free crackers. Have a link of leftover kielbasa kicking around? Swap that in for linguiça. As Mac Hay, founder of Mac’s Seafood in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, says, “Stuffies are kind of like grandma’s Sunday gravy. Everyone’s got their own angle.” Share them with friends and family, preferably with a generous supply of cold beer or wine close at hand.
By Sarah Karnasiewicz
Yield: 6 servings (12 to 24 stuffies, depending on size of clams)
Total time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 10 pounds large hard-shelled clams (12 to 16 large quahogs or 24 to 36 cherrystones), see Tip
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for topping
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 celery stalks, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup crumbled or finely chopped linguiça or chouriço sausage (see Tip)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus more to taste
- 3 lemons (1 zested and juiced, 2 cut into wedges for serving)
- 2 1/2 cups coarsely crushed crackers (such as Ritz or saltines), crumbled stale bread, breadcrumbs or cornbread stuffing mix (see Tip)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
- Hot sauce, for serving, option
Preparation:
1. Prepare the clams: Scrub and rinse the clams well, discarding any clams that are cracked or appear open. Add the clams to a large pot with the water, 3/4 cup of the vermouth and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover and simmer just until the clams steam open, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the clams into a large bowl and let cool briefly. Strain the clam cooking broth through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any sand or debris, then set aside 3 cups. (If you are using store-bought chopped raw clam meat, see Tip and skip ahead to Step 3.)
2. Once the clams are cool enough to handle, pull them from their shells, reserving the shells. Roughly chop the meat and place in a medium bowl (you are aiming for a yield of about 2 1/2 cups of chopped clam meat). Sort through the shells and select 12 to 24 of nicest, largest ones. (The number will depend on the size of the clams you are using — the larger the clams, the fewer you need.) Rinse the shells under warm water and gently scrub them to remove any lingering debris. Pat dry, then transfer to a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, cupped side up.
3. Heat oven to 400 degrees and place a rack in the upper third.
4. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Once the butter has melted, add the celery, bell pepper, onions and linguiça. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the linguiça has begun to brown and render its fat and the vegetables are soft and gently colored, 12 to 15 minutes.
5. Add the garlic, smoked paprika and crushed red pepper and continue cooking, stirring often, until deeply fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes more. Deglaze the pot with 1/4 cup vermouth and 1 cup of reserved clam broth, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the reserved chopped clam meat (along with any juices that have collected in the bowl), lemon zest and juice. Turn off heat.
6. Add the crushed crackers to the pan and fold them into the clam mixture. If the mixture looks dry, drizzle it with more reserved clam broth, 1/4 cup a time (up to another cup): You are aiming for a stuffing that is very moist but not wet (a spoonful should hold its shape, not slump). Fold in the parsley. Taste and season with salt and pepper and a bit more crushed red pepper if desired. (If using store-bought raw clam meat instead of steamed quahogs, skip tasting here — the stuffing needs to be cooked first.)
7. Divide the stuffing among the cleaned clamshells (using about 1/3 to 1/2 cup stuffing per shell, depending on size), resisting the urge to pack it in too hard — you want the stuffing to be generously mounded but not dense. Arrange the clamshells on the prepared baking sheet and dot each one with a small nub (about 1/8 teaspoon) of butter. (If you’d like to freeze the prepped stuffies to bake later, stop here and see Tip.)
8. Bake stuffies until hot all the way through, about 15 minutes, then heat the broiler. Broil until golden brown and a bit crusty on top, about 5 minutes more. Serve stuffies warm on a platter, with lemon wedges and hot sauce on the side, if desired. A cold six-pack of beer or a bottle of Vinho Verde is also a welcome accompaniment.
Tips
Quahogs (pronounced “CO-hogs”) can refer to both a species of large hard-shelled northern Atlantic clam and also the largest variety of those clams, also sometimes called chowder clams. They’re the big boys you’ll want for this recipe. Before cooking, store your clams in the coldest part of your refrigerator in a bowl covered with damp paper towels but do not submerge them in water until you’re ready to clean and cook them.
If fresh hard-shelled clams are difficult to source, you can substitute about 2 1/2 cups (14 ounces) raw chopped sea clam meat or — as a last resort — 3 (6.5-ounce) cans of drained chopped clams. Many fish markets sell chopped raw clam meat and may also have cleaned shells available to purchase (just call in advance and ask). If you choose this route, skip Steps 1 and 2 and substitute bottled clam juice for the clam cooking broth.
Chouriço and linguiça are two varieties of Portuguese smoked pork sausage; chouriço tends to be a bit spicier and linguiça can be more garlicky, but either is a traditional choice. If your market doesn’t carry either, smoked kielbasa and Spanish chorizo are decent substitutes.
Stuffies freeze well, so itap easy to prep them ahead to enjoy anytime you need a taste of New England summer. After the clamshells have been filled but before they’re baked, let the stuffies cool to room temperature, then wrap them tightly in a layer of foil and plastic wrap and freeze. To reheat, unwrap and place on a baking sheet in a 400-degree oven and bake until cooked through, hot and golden, about 20 minutes.
This article originally appeared in .
