Fall and Winter are soup time, and this is one of my favourite soups of all time. I start to crave this rich, salty, chowder when the leaves are starting to fall and we get a lot of cold rainy weather. It originally comes from my mom's friend Jan, but i have forgotten the recipe and reinvented it so many times that 'm not sure how much it still resembles hers. As with most cooking projects the ingredients here are flexible. i've made this without the wine, with water instead of stock, and with white fish instead of clams. but this is my favourite combination of ingredients. Serve with a couple slices of toasted sourdough bread, and a glass of white wine.
Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
one can baby clams
1/2 can of diced or whole tomatoes
one garlic clove
one small to medium sized onion
two celery sticks
one carrot
one potato
1/2 cup of Clamato juice
(i buy the small cans cause they save longer that way, one can will do)
one cup dry white wine or dry sherry.
3-4 cups vegetable broth or fish stock
1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
tabasco (optional)
mince garlic. dice onions, celery, carrots, and potato into small cubes
add olive oil to a dutch oven or soup pot, and vegetables and garlic and salt (remember that clams and Clamato juice are salty so don't go over board, just enough to sweat those veggies.) and pepper and cook on medium heat until onions are soft and beginning to brown.
remove from heat, add the liquid from the can of clams, but not the clams, and the wine or sherry, return to the heat and deglaze the bottom of the pot (scrap the brown bits off the bottom).
let it return to a boil and allow to cook for a minute or two until reduced a bit.
add the half a can of tomatoes and juice (if they are whole cut them into pieces). sometimes i add all the juice but only half the tomatoes, depends on how much liquid you have at this point.
add the Clamato juice
add the broth or stock
add Worcestershire sauce
and the bay leaf
return to a boil then turn down and simmer for about 15-20 minutes
remove the bay leaf
add the clams
and cook fro about 5 more minutes
taste test, add tabasco now if you're going to. now is the time to adjust salt.
serve with buttered toast.
Enjoy!
