Author Notes
This recipe is inspired from the first ever clam pizza I ever had, at Franny's in Brooklyn. Using the juices (that are released when cooking) from the clams is the secret to preparing this dish...it's best cooked over a grill, but using the oven is a fine alternative. Note - although a pizza, there is no tomato or cheese! —Rohit Mitter
Ingredients
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3/4 cup
all purpose white flour, plus more for dusting
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1/4 cup
white wheat flour
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Pinch
salt
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1/4 cup
warm water
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1 teaspoon
fresh thyme
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2
dozen clams, cleaned and dried
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1/2
Spanish or Vidalia onion, chopped finely
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3
cloves garlic, chopped finely
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1 1/2 teaspoons
fennel seeds
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2
bay leaves
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1/2 cup
white wine
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1/4 cup
2% milk
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salt and pepper
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bunch parsley, chopped finely
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Dash
white truffle oil (can use regular olive oil as substitute)
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Pinch
red chili flakes
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olive oil
Directions
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Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
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For the dough, add the dry ingredients - flour and salt - in a bowl and mix. Gently pour in the warm water and a touch of olive oil and combine (if the dough is too sticky, just add some more flour until it smooths out).
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Generously apply white flour to a clean surface and knead the dough by hand for a few minutes; apply more white flour as needed.
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Pour some olive oil into a bowl and roll the kneaded dough around until the oil coats the outside of the dough. Cover with a dry cloth and let it sit; approximately 30 minutes to an hour.
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While dough is resting, you can go ahead and prepare the clams. In a non stick pan, heat up olive oil and add onion, garlic, bay leaves, fennel seeds, and pinch red chili flakes. After a few minutes, add salt and pepper and continue sauteing for an additional 5 minutes. Once onions have turned transparent, add white wine and cook -with pan covered - until simmering.
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Add cleaned clams to pan and continue cooking until clams open up. This shouldn't take more than 10 minutes, but might depend on the size of the clams. Once clams have opened, set aside and remove from shells. The shells can be discarded.
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Add milk and cook remaining liquid for approximately 30 minutes, or until it thickens in consistency. Ensure final texture is not too dry (this will serve as the "sauce," so use your judgement as to when it's done). While liquid is cooking, put dough back on a floured surface and gently roll back into a ball. Incorporate thyme and then cover with cloth or plastic wrap and let sit for additional 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, roll out dough to desired thickness with rolling pin (or anything else that may help roll it out...I've used wine bottles in the past!)
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Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal and place rolled out dough on top. Spread dough with reduced clam mixture and top with clams. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cooking times vary, but the flatbread will be done when the crust is slightly charred.
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To garnish flatbread, sprinkle with chopped parsley, red chili flakes, and white truffle (or olive) oil. Enjoy!!
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