Clam Linguine

Linguine with clam sauce is a classic dish, rich with flavor, and this recipe is an easy one anyone can pull off in their home kitchen. Even using fresh clams, this dish can be put together in about the time it takes to cook the linguini noodles.

Because this recipe calls for only 1 and 1/2 cups of white wine I suggest you buy something you’ll enjoy drinking while you’re cooking. Stay away from sweet wines for this pasta- a dry white like pinot gris is perfect. If you are a non-drinker (what?!?) then feel free to sub chicken stock for the wine.

Put on a big pot of well salted water to boil for the linguine noodles.

Put 1 cup of wine in a medium pot, bring it to a boil, drop in the clams and put a lid on that baby. They should only take 2-3 minutes to cook and fully open. Strain out the clams saving the cooking liquid and let the clams cool enough that you can pull out the meat. Discard any clams that didn’t open and save a few empty shells for garnish.

In a big skillet heat 1 tbsp of the oil over med/low heat and toss in garlic. (psst- hey you. Don’t forget about the noodles. Your water should be boiling about now so make the damn linguine noodles!!!) Stir the garlic until it softens but don’t let it start to colour- it changes the taste. Stir in chilies & most of the parsley and cook for another minute or so. Stir in wine from clam cooking and let it bubble down for a couple minutes. Drain pasta and add it as well as the remaining oil & clam meat to the pan. Add the remaining fresh parsley, a whole bunch of fresh ground back pepper and a big pinch of crushed rock salt or sea salt. (Are you still using crappy table salt? Really? Buy a cheap little mortar & pedestal or salt grinder and get the good stuff- it’s not expensive and it makes a HUGE difference.)

In the picture above I also added a few cherry tomatoes that I had to use up.

Deep warm bowls & a chunk of toasted baguette. Oh yeah, that’s the goods baby, clam linguine in all of about 20 minutes.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings