I first tasted this dish in an Italian American restaurant in the 1960s, and thereafter served it in my restaurants into the 1980s. In Italy, bacon and clams are not cooked together much, but I love this dish. It is an extraordinary combination of flavors—between the brininess of the clams, the sweetness of the roasted peppers, and the crispy pancetta or bacon taste that everybody loves. The dish has roots on the shore of Rhode Island, where it was created at the Little Casino hotel in Narragansett, early in the twentieth century.

　　

Ingredients

serves 6 as an appetizer

　　36 littleneck clams

　　2 roasted red or yellow bell peppers, peeled and cut into 1-inch squares

　　6 ounces thinly sliced bacon or pancetta, cut into 1-inch squares

　　3 tablespoons unsalted butter

　　3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

　　Dry white wine, as needed

　　

Step 1

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

　　

Step 2

Shuck the clams, leaving each clam in the half-shell and reserving the juices. Strain the juices through a cheesecloth into a bowl.

　　

Step 3

Place the clams on a rimmed baking sheet in one even layer. Top each clam with a pepper square, then with a bacon or pancetta square, and with a dab of butter, using all 3 tablespoons evenly. Sprinkle the chopped parsley on top. Pour the reserved shucking juices into a measuring cup, and add enough white wine to make 2 cups combined liquid. Pour the liquid into the bottom of the baking sheet.

　　

Step 4

Bake the clams, uncovered, until the bacon or pancetta is crispy and the clams are cooked all the way through, about 25 minutes. Serve on a platter, drizzled with baking juices.

　　Reprinted with permission from Lidia's Italy in America by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Copyright © 2011 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.