Manhattan Clam Chowder, Easy

 My picture isn't the greatest, so with my apologies for that, I wanted to share a very easy and delicious Manhattan Clam chowder.  I've never been a huge clam fan, but I do eat them on occasion. There's just something to the combination of clams with tomatoes that I love (check out my spaghetti with clam sauce here), while I really do not care for New England Clam chowder too much.  Too creamy, too thick, too much for me.

I made this on Christmas morning, and it was super easy to make.  I made a double batch and filled a 6 1/2 quart crockpot for my 18 guests to enjoy and serve themselves.  We served with spiral ham and a multitude of side dishes.   I did freeze one quart of the leftovers, but as it was in the crockpot most of the day, the potatoes were a bit too soft.  While you can freeze it, it might be best to cook and serve the same day.

Serves 6-8 

Ingredients

6-8 slices bacon chopped

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup carrots, peeled, quartered and sliced

1 cup celery sliced or diced

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup tomato paste (half a small can)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, or 4-5 fresh thyme stocks

1 bay leaf

1 pound yellow potatoes, unpeeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes, about 4 cups

2 8 ounce bottles clam juice

4 cups chicken broth

15 ounce can crushed tomatoes (including liquid) OR 2 cups of marinara sauce (i used Rao's)

2 10 ounce can whole baby clams, do not drain, include liquid

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, remove and drain on paper towels.  

Leaving a bit of the bacon grease in the pan, use that to saute the onions, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-8 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Place the tomato paste, garlic powder, thyme, bay leaf, clam juice, broth, crushed tomatoes (or marinara) and potatoes in the pot. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer.

Cook for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Stir in the baby clams. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for 5 more minutes.  Top with parsley.  Serve with sourdough bread.

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Puglia, Italy- Stop Two- Valle d'Itria

We arrived to our second stop outside of Martina Franca in the Valle d'Itria. This was my second favorite stop in our trip in Puglia.  I liked it so much because it was very green, very relaxed and so charming with unique scenery.  You can read about stop One in Pogliano di Mare here.  

I've been enamored with these little trulli houses for some time, so when I found a cute and inexpensive one online, I booked it!

We spent under $100 a night for this one bedroom, one bath unit.  It does sleep 4, but I would recommend for two.  If you want the link, look for property 10776012  on VRBO.com   LINK .

We had a small pool too, but it was kind of cold in April, so it wasn't open yet.  We had such a great time relaxing here, we made dinner here every night and usually had great lunches out while we were sight seeing.

The kitchen was super small but had everything we needed.  We also had a welcome table of items for our stay including wine, fresh pasta, sauce, fruit, nuts, fresh basil and tomatoes and cheese!

Our place was off a quiet country road and had a few neighbors.  The neighbors next store arrived to work on their place doing renovation, but were also having a party on Italian holiday of Liberation Day when the Allies liberated Italy.  It is a major big deal in Italy on April 25th.  At first we were dismayed with the pounding music, but when 6 darling kids showed up at the door to invite us to the party, how could we say no?  They were so cute and had been told to bring us over! Only one guy, our host, knew English but he did a great job introducing us and having us try local specialties like the smoked cheese served melted over bread.  We also had some great homemade wine and enjoyed the festivities.

Alberello is a great but very touristy town of over 1,000 trulli homes. The streets are cute cobblestoned and the hills aren't too stepp for strolling and seeing the sites.  Prepare to take a lot of pictures.  My recommendation is to get there very earlier before all the buses.  We arrived about 9:15am and had no issue finding parking, but when we left about 11am, it was packed with cars trying to find parking. I had to jump out of the car to direct traffic so we could even back out of our parking space. I felt a little awkward, but it's nice that arm movements are universally understood and the guy behind the guy blocking our exit, got what I was trying to do. Plus, he was thrilled to get our parking spot.

There's a couple different parts of the town, and you should stroll up both sides as each has its merits. The side less traveled has the best panoramic views of the town. 

Trulli are often adorned with a painted symbol. Their origin is unknown but they usually have a religious or astrological meaning. Symbols may include astrological signs, the evil eye, the cross, a heart, a star, and others. 

Here's a little sign of some of the local symbols, a couple of them make sense to me and others leave me mystified.

This picture is from the less traveled part of Alberello. Watch for signs that say 'belvedre', which means view point! It was a great little garden park with different trails and areas to take pictures. 

Our trulli host recommended that we visit the walled town of Cisternino. It was a great day trip on our anniversary for a lunch in one of the highest rated local restaurants.

No Italian post would be right without showing some food, so here's the best pasta I ate in Puglia. We had a great lunch in Cisternino for our anniversary.  This  pasta was fantastic. 

T a g l i o l i n o b u rr o , p a r m i g i a n o , t a rt u f o * n e r o 

Fresh pasta cooked and thrown into a heated wheel of cheese and stirred until the cheese is incorporated into a sauce.  Topped with fresh truffles.  Link to the restaurant is here, Osteria Piatti Chiari. The truffles are priced separately, what's shown in the picture is about 4.50 euros.  They weigh the truffle before and after slicing it on your pasta so they know how much you were served.  You can see the girl has the basket with the truffle and the scale too.

We wandered around Cisternino and enjoyed the labyrinth of streets. 

Go ahead and try to get lost!  It's worth it.

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