White Clam Pizza

My mother came over for dinner this Sunday afternoon and I decided to make pizza.  For the past few weeks, I have been itching to make a white clam pizza, made famous by Pepe's in New Haven, CT.  My uncle orders it all the time and I've had it once or twice, but not in years.  So, I decided to give it a go.

I made my standard dough (coming soon in a series of future posts).  Stretched thin on the peel.  Now for the topping...

I chopped a lot of fresh garlic and let it marinade in a bowl of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) for about an hour so that that the garlic flavor would infuse in the oil.  Then, I spread the garlic and oil combination on the crust.  I made a safe assumption that the oil would just absorb into the crust, so I purposely put more oil on the crust ... more than you think you need.  It was really swimming in oil at this point, but trust me, if you don't use this much oil the pie will turn out dry.  Then, I used Bumblebee canned minced clams in juice and drained it thoroughly.  I know I didn't use fresh clams!  So sue me.  Cover the pie with the clams, as much as you want.  I use a lot!  Finish with Parmesan cheese and some dried oregano.

I use a pizza stone in an electric oven at 550 deg (the highest mine will go).

Here is some before and after pictures ...

No joke. This is one of the best tasting pizzas I have ever eaten and a nice change to a standard tomato pie.  Try this one out and let me know what you think. Good luck.