Recipes

6 Seafood-Packed Dishes for Your Next Clambake

You don't need a beach to enjoy this quintessential summer feast.

By Western Living / August 5, 2016

You don’t need a beach to enjoy this quintessential summer feast.

Traditional clambakes are a labour of love: friends and family gather at low tide to collect buckets of fresh shellfish and then bake it all under a layer of seaweed (in a hand-dug pit oven, we might add). Hard work? Yes. But the salty, smokey flavour is well worth the trouble.We’ve scoured the WL Recipe Finder for our best seafood dishes—fried soft-shell crab, spicy paella and seafood stews—that you can make right at home (because let’s face it—we can’t always make it to the beach).

1. Fried Soft-Shell Crabs on Arugula

The delicate and crispy soft-shell crab takes centre stage when served on a bed of orange segments and lightly-dressed arugula (all you need is a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper).

2. Cioppino

A rich and flavourful tomato broth forms the base of Coast Restaurant chef Pedro Gonzalez’s seafood stew. Go ahead, lick the bowl—or at the very least, sop up the extra broth with a slice or two of warm garlic bread.

3. Seafood Paella with Chorizo

No shellfish gets left behind in this Spanish dish from Boulevard Kitchen chef Alex Chen: It’s loaded with prawns, scallops, mussels and clams.

4. Commander’s Palace Seafood Gumbo

This hearty stew is famous down in the bayou. Take a cue from New Orleans chef Tony McPhail of Commander’s Palace and mix in some southern ingredients like fresh okra and spicy filé powder (ground sassafras leaves).

5. Brodetto

The recipe for this Venetian seafood strew isn’t meant to be followed (doing so violates its soulful spirit), so feel free to experiment. No mullet at the fish counter? Try halibut instead. Not a fan of calamari? Throw a few extra mussels into the pot. Just make sure the total weight of fish is enough to balance the garlicky white wine broth.