wherefore tinned clams?

I agree about the clam sauce for pasta. I've thrown together many a last minute 'pantry' pasta with chopped or whole (not minced) canned clams and the clam 'juice' in the tin. No, it's not the same masterpiece as with fresh clams, but it's still pretty damn tasty. (Lots of garlic, olive oil, parsley, a pinch of red pepper flakes - sometimes a tablespoon of tomato paste for a little extra zip. Slightly under cook the pasta and finish it in the broth made with the clam juice so it absorbs some of it. Good stuff.)

I've also used canned clams/juice in clam/corn/bacon chowder and also in seafood risotto (along with shrimp from the omnipresent bag in the freezer.) Not a bad item to have in your pantry.

Thank you all! The clam sauce idea is great :) Does anyone have a Mad Men era throwback recipe for clam dip?

Back in grad school I made linguine with clam sauce with canned clams and it was easy and delicious. Cook up lots of garlic and some onion or shallot, add in the clams (drained and rinsed if it's just salt water) and use a little chicken stock or jarred clam juice for a little extra sauce. Add some hot pepper and maybe some parsley at the end.

another option is old school clam dip which is a great Mad Men era throwback.

Linguine with clam sauce (either red or white) comes immediately to mind. It was a staple in my family growing up, and it's still a "throw-together-quickie" every month or so.

Thank you both!

You could use them in pasta. Also, I covered clams for a whole week on my blog here, if you need more ideas:
http://www.ladomestique.com/category/pantry-items/clams/

I have used tinned clams for chowder.