In the bowl of a stand mixer add garlic, shallot, parsley, butter, salt and pepper.

Mix on medium-low speed until butter and herbs are well combined.

Spoon mixture into a small dish. If you are preparing the butter mixture ahead of time, refrigerate until ready to use.

Dump clams into a colander, preferably metal if you have one.

Check to make sure that each one of your clams are closed. Discard the ones that are open.

Scrub the outside of the clams with a brush. You can also take a handful of clams and starting at the top, rub them downward to scrub them against the sides of the colander.

Rinse well, let water completely drain.

Preheat a large heavy bottom pot on high heat, leaving it empty.

Once pot is preheated, dump clams inside.

Cook until clams open, this may take approximately 5 minutes maybe less.

Dump clams into colander and remove top shell. Discard any clams that are dark grey in color or that may have an odd smell. In my experience, this is very rare if you buy your clams from a trusted source.

Place clams shell side down in a single layer onto a 13 inch by 9 inch baking pan, using an additional pan if necessary.

Put a little dab of butter on top of each clam, about ½ tsp. or more if you would like.

Sprinkle panko on top and broil for 3-4 minutes or until the butter is bubbling and panko is a light brown color.

Remove from the oven and serve warm.