This recipe for Surf & Turf Sliders has a clam sauce smeared on a lamb burger and it was so delicious that it blew my father’s mind when he took the first bite.
This post is bittersweet for me. It’s been 4 months since I started the Lambs & Clams recipe contest in an attempt to win a pass to the Charleston Wine + Food Festival in March. When I first agreed to enter the contest, March seemed like light years away, but here we are in the middle of January already and by the time I blink again, it will be March. It’s been a fun ride for sure. Dreaming up recipes is what I love to do and using ingredients that I don’t normally use, like lamb and clams, has pushed my creative envelope to new heights. High quality ingredients were provided by Border Springs Farm & Rappahannock River Oysters, you should check them out next time you need lamb or clams/oysters or just go check them out.
Other Lambs & Clams Recipes
And last but definitely not least are these sliders. Surf meets turf on a homemade pretzel roll and the result is incredibly delicious. So good, in fact, that we had them for lunch and dinner the same day. These would be a fun addition to your Super Bowl menu for sure!
How to Make Surf & Turf Sliders
Start by steaming 2 dozen middleneck clams in a red ale.
Remove the clams from the shells and coarse chop them. Add 8 ounces of room temp cream cheese, 2 tablespoons minced yellow onion, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1 tsp Worcestershire and 3/4 tsp Sriracha. Mix it all up and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.
Add 2 lbs of ground lamb to a bowl. Mix in 2 tablespoons minced yellow onion, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper, a big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and a pinch of smoked paprika. Use your hands to combine. Using a 1/3 cup measure, make patties. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Heat up a skillet, grill or grill pan and cook the lamb burgers until they are just cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Toast some slider buns, like these Pretzel Slider Buns (pictured above) and then give them a good shmear of the clam spread. Add a lamb patty and a few arugula leaves and spear a cornichon pickle to the top and serve.
It has also been a pleasure to work with the other 7 bloggers for this event. See what they made for their last challenge below.
More Recipes to Try
- Homemade Tartar Sauce
- Quick Tempura Fish
- Cod Pockets
- Buffalo Chicken Burgers
- Pulled Pork Sliders
- Clam Cakes
Surf & Turf Sliders
Ingredients
For the Clam Spread:
- 16 oz red ale, such as Rickard’s Red
- 25 middleneck clams, scrubbed
- kosher salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- 2 tsp minced yellow onion
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ¾ tsp sriracha sauce, or other hot pepper sauce
- â…› tsp kosher salt
- â…› tsp black pepper
For the Lamb Burgers:
- 2 lbs ground lamb
- 2 tbsp yellow onion, minced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 pinch smoked paprika
- 14 pretzel slider buns
- ½ cup arugula
- ¼ cup cornichons, optional
Instructions
For the Clam Spread:
- Add the beer to a large stockpot. Bring to a boil and add the clams and salt & pepper to taste. Cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes, or until the clams have opened. Remove the clams and allow to cool slightly.
- Coarsely chop the clams and add to a medium bowl along with the cream cheese, onion, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and sriracha. Stir with a rubber scraper, cover and refrigerate.
For the Lamb Patties:
- In a medium bowl add the lambs, onion, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and paprika. Use your hand to combine. Use a 1/3 cup measure to form measure the meat and make a patty and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate if not using immediately.
- Heat a skillet, grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Add the lamb patties and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, until just cooked through.
- Toast the cut side of the slider buns under a broiler for 30 seconds or so, then spread a tablespoon of clam spread on the bun. Add a patty and a few arugula leaves. Use a long toothpick and spear a cornichon with it. Spear the slider and repeat with the remaining sliders. Serve immediately.
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Nutrition
*Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.
Did you try this recipe?
Please Leave a Review & Star Rating!See the Other Entries for this Month:
- Taste Food Blog – Gratineed Clams with Spinach, Cheese & Crispy Lamb
- A Cook Blog – http://www.acookblog.com/
- Mango Tomato – Lambs & Clams
- Eat Drink RI – Clambballs
- One Vanilla Bean – Saffron and Smoked Paprika Lambs and Clams with Roasted Garlic Aioli
Disclaimer: I received a 2 lbs of ground lamb from Border Springs Farm and 25 Middleneck clams from Rappahannock River Oysters for the purpose of recipe development. I was not paid to write this post and all opinions are my own. One person will be selected from a group of 8 food bloggers to receive an all expense paid trip to the Charleston Wine + Food Festival
Hi! I’m Heather
I’m Heather, a recipe developer and content creator based in Vancouver, Washington. I started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006 because I believed weeknight dinners shouldn’t be boring and gourmet shouldn’t mean complicated. I’m also the co-founder of Spiceology, so safe to say I think about food for a living. Stick around for recipes that actually make it into your regular rotation.
I really love this recipe and hope you will too!
I need one of those surf and turf sliders right about now!
Oh, Heather, I am swooning! Nothing better – from the gorgeous pretzel rolls to that amazing clam sauce and the lamb burgers? Just stunning and THIS is what I want for dinner! Good luck with the compet….
Thank you Jamie!! I wish the photos would’ve turned out better. I took some amazing shots, but didn’t realize I had changed some settings on my camera which made them turn out awful! Oh well. They tasted delish. Thank you again!! XO darlin!
Fantastic sliders and everything else! I wish you all the best for the comp 🙂
Thank you Gerry! Here’s to hoping! 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
These really are the cutest things!
Thanks Cathy!! They were darned tasty too. Who knew clam spread would work on a burger, but it totally did. Thanks for commenting. XO
Thank you Miss
What a burger! You have rocked this competition and I am crossing my fingers for you to win!
So creative and certain to be delicious! Gorgeous photos.
Thank you Erika. It’s a unique combo, but it worked great. Even the kiddos loved it.
LOVE sliders! But I still think your second recipe was the best: too bad you did not win ;( I’m so glad we are done!!!
You’re too sweet Olga. Out of all of the recipes, the sliders were my faves with the shepherd’s pie coming in close second. It sure was fun.
It has been an interesting challenge and I have enjoyed seeing what everyone comes up with based on the ingredients we have been sent. The lamb slider with clam sauce is definitely fun.
It sure did stretch my imagination! Thanks for commenting Gwen. Best of luck.
At first I was a little apprehensive about the combo of lamb & clams, but it was such a creative experiment. Your sliders sound delicious! What a great way to incorporate the clams into the dish. And the homemade pretzel buns are gorgeous!
I love lamb burgers and the idea of a creamy clam sauce is brilliant. Actually, you had me with the sriracha. It’s been a fun contest, and I wish you good luck!
I love sriracha too. It’s my weakness. Thanks for commenting!!! 🙂
Ooooo! I am so curious about this combo. I love this little lamb burger idea!
Seems weird to have clams on a burger, but they were incredible. Thanks for commenting!!