Clam Pie
This is a take on the iconic New Haven clam pie with fresh clams, garlic, vermouth, and a hit of chilli on a thin, charred base. It has a thin, chewy crust stretched onto a hot stone, topped with raw shucked clams, garlic, olive oil, and Pecorino, then cooked in a very hot oven (or pizza oven) until the edges char and the clams steam in their own juice. There's no tomato sauce on this pizza. The briny, savoury liquid the clams release as they cook is the sauce. This version adds a splash of vermouth and a hit of chilli flakes to build on that base without covering it up.
The prep will take a bit of time, you need to purge the clams in salted water for at least 30 minutes to draw out the sand, and shucking them raw means they cook directly on the pizza and release their liquid into the topping rather than being pre-cooked. For the dough, I've used my New York-style pizza base which is high-hydration, stretches thin, and blisters in a very hot oven. In a pizza oven at 350°C the pies take 2 to 2½ minutes; in a home oven at maximum with a preheated stone, allow 6 to 10 minutes
Ingredient Notes
Fresh baby clams:
Please buy fresh clams for this one, it does make a difference. The clams are shucked raw and go onto the pizza uncooked, so they need to be alive when you buy them. Look for clams that are tightly closed or close when tapped. Baby clams (also sold as vongole or pipis depending on availability) work well here as they’re small enough to cook through in the short bake time. Ask the fishmonger whether they’ve already been purged: if so, just rinse and shuck. Discard any that are open and don’t close when tapped, or any with cracked shells.
Dough:
Follow my New York-style pizza for the base or you can purchase fresh pizza bases from some delis or speciality stores. I recommend making it yourself though as I think it's a good skill to learn.
Vermouth:
Dry vermouth adds a subtle herbal, wine-forward note to the clam topping without adding obvious alcohol flavour, which cooks off in the hot oven. It also lightly seasons the clams and helps keep the toppings moist during the very short bake. A dry white wine is a direct substitute. If you don’t have either, skip it and season the clams well with salt and black pepper before they go on.
Pecorino:
Pecorino Romano is a hard, aged sheep’s milk cheese with a sharp, salty flavour that suits the briny clams better than Parmesan. It’s used in small amounts here: enough to add depth and form a slight crust without overwhelming the seafood. Grate it finely on a microplane so it melts quickly in the high heat. Parmesan is a reasonable substitute and will give a milder, nuttier result.
Ingredients
- ½ quantity my New York Style Pizza dough
TOPPING
- 1kg fresh baby clams, scrubbed clean
- 45g sea salt
- 4 cloves garlic, finely crushed
- 60ml (¼ cup) olive oil
- 40g finely grated Pecorino
- 10ml (2 tsp) Vermouth
- sea salt and black pepper, to season
- large pinch chilli flakes
- chopped flat leaf parsley and chilli flakes, to serve
Equipment
-
Pizza oven or oven with pizza stone or cast iron pan
-
Pizza peel (or large flat baking sheet)
-
Large bowl (for purging clams)
-
Colander
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Clam or oyster shucking knife
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Small bowl
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Chopping board
-
Grater or microplane
Directions
PREP DOUGH
PREP CLAMS
TOPPINGS AND COOK
Notes
Chef Tips
Purge the clams properly
The salted water purge draws out sand and grit the clams have filtered through their shells. Use cold water with about 30g of salt per litre (close to seawater concentration) and keep the clams submerged in a colander inside the bowl so expelled sand settles below them rather than back onto the shells. Refrigerate rather than leaving at room temperature. Thirty minutes does most of the work; overnight gives the best result. Clams from a good fishmonger may already be purged, but another 30-minute soak won’t hurt.
Get the cooking surface fully up to temperature first
Whether you’re using a pizza oven or a home oven with a pizza stone, the cooking surface needs to be fully preheated before the pie goes on. In a home oven, preheat the stone or cast iron pan at maximum temperature for at least 30-45 minutes. A cold or underheated surface produces a pale, soft base rather than the crisp, blistered result the recipe needs. Slide the pizza directly onto the hot surface using a peel or the back of a flat baking tray.
Storage
Clam pie is best eaten straight from the oven. The base loses its crispness quickly and the clams don’t keep well once cooked. Make the dough ahead and refrigerate it, but cook the pies to order and serve immediately.
FAQs
Can I use tinned or frozen clams?
What if I don’t have vermouth?
Can I cook this in a regular home oven?
Nutrition
Nutrition
- Serving Size
- 1 serving
- Calories
- per serving
- 575
- Carbs
- 61 grams
- Protein
- 30 grams
- Fat
- 23 grams
- Saturated Fat
- 7 grams
- Fiber
- 3 grams
- Sugar
- 3 grams
- Sodium
- 10300 milligrams
- Cholesterol
- 45 milligrams
- Potassium
- 500 milligrams
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