One-Pan Meal

Something we don't make a lot of in our house, mostly because we don't feel terribly comfortable with that form of protein. We pretty much limit ourselves to shrimp and mussels. We both love clams, and when I saw this recipe in the September issue of Martha Stewart and little neck clams went on sale at my supermarket, I knew we had to add clams to our very short list.

We hit some bumps along the way, though. The bag I picked up at the supermarket had double the amount of clams, so I doubled the whole recipe. It was way too much rice. Next time I would continue to double the the amount of clams, but make the amount of rice the recipe calls for. The original recipe called for 3 oz. dried chorizo. That's impossible to come by in my supermarket, so I used fresh instead.

One thing I did add was the fresh tomatoes. I thought the dish could use some freshness, and I was right. The tomatoes were a nice touch.

But despite the hiccups I would call this meal a success, and I would definitely make it again.

Baked Rice with Chorizo and Clams

Recipe adapted from September 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 8 oz. fresh chorizo, casings removed
  
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 1/4 cups Arborio rice
  
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
  
• 1 1/2 chicken stock
  
• 3/4 cup water
  
• 25 littleneck clams, scrubbed well
  
• 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a large, heavy ovenproof skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium high heat. Stir in oil. Add chorizo, breaking up with potato masher. Cook, stirring often, until edges are browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.
   
2. Stir in rice to coat, then wine. Bring to a boil. Cook until skillet is almost dry. Add stock and water. Bring to a boil.
   
3. Transfer skillet to oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Add clams. Bake until clams open and rice absorbs all the liquid, about 10 minutes.
   
4. Remove skillet from oven and add tomatoes. Let stand, covered, for 10 minutes before serving.