- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds mild Italian sausage
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup bottled clam juice
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 pinch dried red pepper flakes
- 16 littleneck clams, scrubbed
- 3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
- Salt
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
- In a large pot, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Add the sausage; cook, turning, until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat.
- Reduce the heat to moderately low. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and paprika and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds longer. Remove from the heat. Cut the sausage into 1/2-inch slices and stir them and the tomato paste into the pot.
- In a medium stainless-steel saucepan, combine the clam juice, wine, bay leaves, and red-pepper flakes. Discard any clams that are broken or do not clamp shut when tapped. Add the clams to the pan. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the clams open, about 3 minutes. Remove the open clams and continue to cook, uncovering the pan as necessary to remove the clams as soon as they open. Discard any that do not open.
- Carefully pour the clam-cooking liquid into the sausage mixture, leaving any grit in the bottom of the pan. Add 2 tablespoons of the parsley, salt if needed, and the black pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover, and continue simmering for 5 minutes. Stir in the clams in their shells. Simmer, covered, just until the clams are warm through, about 1 minute. Serve topped with the remaining parsley.