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Soup is our go to when the weather gets cold. Its usually pretty budget friendly, filling, and its nice to wrap your hands around a big mug of soup while you sit on the couch and watch the snow fall outside your window.
This soup is more of a splurge. We love it, but only have it on rare occasion. Why?
- Its spendy.
- Its labor intensive.
- We don’t want to spoil ourselves because its soooooooooooo delicious!
I cut the cost a bit by harnessing the inner Hunter-Gatherer in myself whenever I make a trip out to Oregon to visit my family. My dad and I hit the coast and go clamming every morning. A little effort, some time, and I come home with pounds and pounds of frozen clams that my family and I eat throughout the years.
We doubled this recipe recently and brought it to my wife’s sides monthly Family Home Evening dinner. It was a huge hit! Not to mention we had plenty for everyone plus leftovers – that’s 9 adults, 1 tween, 2 toddlers AND leftovers. You’ll need a pretty big pot to fit all that delicious flavor in – might I suggest this one?
I would also suggest reading the WHOLE RECIPE before preparing. Like everything good in this world, this soup does not come easy. It can be messed up pretty easily, and we wouldn’t want that!
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb of bacon, chopped
- 2 lbs of raw clams, chopped* OR 8 6.5oz cans of chopped cans, liquid reserved**
- 48oz clam juice OR chicken stock***
- 1/2 large sweet onion, diced
- 6 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2/3 cup of flour
- 3lbs of red potatoes, diced into 1/2″ pieces
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 4 bay leaves
- 16oz heavy cream
- 2 TBS fresh parsley, well minced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, cook the bacon until crisp over medium heat. *If using raw clams, cook them during this step along with the bacon.
- Add the diced celery and onions, cooking until they are very soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, only about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the flour to coat all the veggies and meat. Cook until the flour is turning brown.
- Very, very gradually begin adding the clam juice/chicken stock/reserved can juice. Add a small amount – about 2 TBS at a time – of liquid and stir it in until there is no more visible liquid. Then add a little more, completely combining each batch with the veggie flour mixture. Continue this way until you use up all the liquid.
- Add the potatoes, thyme, and bay leaves. Raise the temperature to high and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the temperature to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
- Stir in the cream. **If you are using canned clams, add them during this step. Heat through. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Notes
***You can use half clam juice and half chicken stock. If you are using fresh clams use the clam juice because you will not have any liquid to reserve from the cans.
This looks delicious!
Oh it is! Well worth the effort 🙂
Thanks for the comment!