A cataplana, a fixture in the Algarve, is kind of a spiritual cousin to the pressure cooker. Shaped like a giant clam, the hinged pan clamps down during cooking, locking in the juices of its contents. When carried to the table and popped open, it fills the room with steam redolent of the sea. If you’re bereft of a cataplana, a Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid works perfectly, if less attractively.
I first had this meaty cataplana 12 years ago in Bridgewater, Connecticut, of all places, at the home of my friends Manny Almeida and Kevin Bagley. Manny, who’s from the same Azorean island as my family, just whipped it up one summer evening. I’ve since had it many times in Portugal, most memorably at an ocean-side joint in the town of Sagres, just east of the vertiginous promontory where Henry the Navigator supposedly built a school and shipyard for his sailors.–David Leite
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 ounces chouriço, linguiça, or dry-cured smoked Spanish chorizo, cut into 1/4-inch coins
- One thick slice presunto, Serrano ham, or prosciutto, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 2 medium yellow onions, cut lengthwise in half and sliced into thin half-moons
- 1 Turkish
bay leaf - 4 garlic cloves, minced
- One (28-oz) can whole peeled tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, drained and chopped
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 4 pounds small clams, such as cockles, manila, butter, or littlenecks, scrubbed and rinsed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley leaves
Serving: 1 portionCalories: 397 kcalCarbohydrates: 17 gProtein: 22 gFat: 26 gSaturated Fat: 7 gMonounsaturated Fat: 8 gTrans Fat: 0.01 gCholesterol: 57 mgSodium: 1019 mgFiber: 3 gSugar: 7 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe © 2009 David Leite. Photo © 2009 Nuno Correia. All rights reserved.
Cook your clams in style
This Traditional Copper Cataplana is approximately 9 inches wide and is traditionally used to make Portuguese seafood dishes, popular on the country’s Algarve region. The most famous dish made in a cataplana is amêijoas na cataplana (clams in cataplana). The cataplana is traditionally made of copper and shaped like two clamshells hinged at one end and able to be sealed using a clamp on either side of the assembly. Made in Portugal.
