Legal Seafood Style Low Fat Clam Chowder

Submitted by Lorac

"No butter, milk or cream! The long simmering time gives this version it's intense flavor. I cut this recipe out of the Boston Globe in April 1989, about a year and a half after it was first added to the menu."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 cups chopped clams (fresh or frozen)
• 2 1⁄2 cups bottled clam juice
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 3⁄4 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1 cup potato, diced 1/4 inch
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

directions

1. Add onion, clams, clam juice, water, bay leaf and thyme to a large sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.
3. Add celery and carrot, simmer covered 25 minutes.
4. Add potato and garlic, simmer covered 20 minutes.
5. Remove bay leaf, add salt if needed and a generous amount of black pepper.
6. Top with parsley and serve.

Reviews

[Jack B.]

Tastes good but it takes more than 20 minutes to cook diced potatoes at a simmer. I'd cook everything for 1.5 hours.

 

[aholmquist]

I made this with 4 cans clams, juice from cans and one bottle of clam juice. Followed rest of recipe exactly. As is, the clam flavor was too intense for us. I added a cup of chicken stock to try and soften it. That wasn't enough. So I finally resorted to fatttening it up. Whisked a 1/4 cup flour into 1 1/2 cups 1% milk and slowly adding this. Added another cup of potato and simmered for another 30 minutes. We preferred this final version.

 

[PAT K.]

I was afraid we wouldn't like this recipe since we like the creamy version. However, I, too, used canned whole clams and added some chicken broth to make up the difference in the calm juice which I didn't have and made a flour slurry to get the creaminess. This was pretty good. I will probably tweak some more. Good recipe!

 

[ctrmom]

The idea of a clam-broth, veggie-filled chowder sounded appealing, but the reality was less so. Sorry, but it's back to "full-fat" clam chowder for me.

 

[rpmazur]

Definitely a keeper. I made a budget version (with can clams), and added corn and cilantro instead of parsley. I love clam chowder by my kids don't. This one even they did. I ate 3 bowls. Thanks for posting.