The following recipe was sent to me from Charley Soares and it’s about as authentic as they get. His family has been making quahogs this way for 80 years.

15 to 24 quahogs, chopped
One yellow onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 pound of ground chourico
2 tablespoons of Portuguese crushed
hot pepper sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced (or 1 tsp.
garlic powder)
2 tablespoons olive oil
One loaf of coarse white bread, cubed
Salt and pepper to taste

Freeze the quahogs for an hour (this will make them easy to shuck).

Shuck them, reserving any juice.

Dice the onions and celery, then sauté them in olive oil with the ground chourico for about 15 minutes.

Next, add the chopped quahogs, clam juice, bread and mix well. Add water, as necessary, if the mixture is too dry.

Bake in a casserole dish for about ½ hour, removing the cover to brown, if desired.