Baked Clams with Pancetta and Breadcrumbs

When it comes to clams it's tough to compete with the handful of old-school Italian eateries still holding on in Williamsburg, cheerful reminders all in a willfully amnesic neighborhood hellbent on erasing its cultural heritage. Appearing on Old Italian Brooklyn menus always as Vongole Oreganato, baked and breaded clams are supremely simple to prepare at home. We must admit though they don't taste quite as good minus the atmosphere of gondola murals, red carpeting and gilded chandeliers.

CAFE DRAKE'S BAKED CLAMS

Serve in the shell as a festive, nostalgic appetizer or as a main course with salad and bread. You will need to use the largest variety of clam you can obtain; giant cherrystones work well and if you're near Rhode Island by all means use quahogs.

The recipe may seem overly long but please don't be deterred as everything comes together quickly.

• Scrub 6-8 very large clams very well, removing any beards clinging to the shells. Make sure all are fresh and tightly shut; as always discard any open shellfish that do not close firmly when tapped.
• Place clams in a saucepan with 3-4 tablespoons of water. Cover and steam over medium heat until shells open. Remove from heat.
• Remove clam meat from shell, chop well and set aside.
• Strain accumulated clam juice from the pan through cheesecloth and set aside as well.
• Scrub shells very well and set aside like everything else so far.
• Now mince 1 onion and 3 cloves of garlic and fry gently in olive oil. After a minute or so add: some red pepper flakes, dried oregano and basil and a bit of salt and black pepper.
• Add about 2 cups of plain, unseasoned bread crumbs to pan and cook till crumbs are golden brown.
• Now add some of the strained clam juice and stir until breadcrumbs/onion mixture is nice and moist but not soggy or runny. At this point check for seasoning though be cautious - the clams and juice are very salty.
  
• Stir chopped clams into breadcrumbs, mix well and stuff into individual cleaned clam shells.
• Top each clam shell with a small bit of pancetta.
• Bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven and then brown for 3 minutes under the broiler.
• Serve hot with lemon wedges.