Portuguese Steamed Littlenecks

Scrub clams well and rinse in cool water. Slice linguica and crumble. Place lingucia, tomatoes, onion, scallions, parsley, garlic, wine and ¾ cup of water into a large kettle. Place clams on top, cover and bring to a boil. Boil until the clams have opened completely. To serve, divide clams and sauce equally into 4 large soup plates. Serve with extra broth on the side and plenty of crusty Portuguese bread.

This recipe may easily be transformed into Steamed Clams Madeira by omitting the linguica and replacing the white wine with Madeira and the parsley for fresh chopped basil.