In the early 1992 Stella’s Trattoria in Seattle’s U-district was a regular, late-night haunt for my particular group of friends. Dave Dawson had a habit of ordering the creamy, clam sauce and resulted in getting several of us addicted to the stuff. It was especially surprising when I became addicted since I generally dislike all clam sauce, and white clam sauce in particular — in the end I would commonly order two servings, one to eat there, and one to tide me over till we came back. I’m not sure what Stella’s put in it, but consensus at the time was that it had to have crack in it. At last report, Stella’s no longer has the clam sauce, nor is it open 24/7 everyday, which is a travesty on two counts; this recipe is my attempt to recreate the magic of that sauce. It’s no where near as good, but it’s pretty much one of the few clam sauces I will eat today. If anyone finds out the recipe for the original Stella’s clam sauce, I’ll be your best friend.
[recipe moved to a static page]
J.P. was complaining about the inclusion of recipes in the blog since he’s currently on Atkins — this recipe should be pretty Atkins friendly, so long as you don’t put it over pasta.