Oh isn't it pretty!
Back when my husband and I were newlyweds I would make this for special occasions! We thought we were so elegant and blessed to have beautiful things to cook. We'd break out candles and napkins and everything.
Now I serve it on paper plates because the dishwasher is too full to handle the supper dishes. So be forewarned! Serving this dish may lead to six sets of dishes being used at most meals.
Wait! Wait! Come back!
This is a light oil based sauce not a heavy creamy one. So you can serve it to your girls for lunch or your man for dinner (just make sure he gets extra clams.)
Like all good recipes it starts out with a stick of butter!
Into the sauce pan it goes!
Now for some olive oil. It's so green it looks like it came from a tree doesn't it? Now if you like you can switch the proportions around and do twice as much olive oil and half as much butter.
Of course, back in the day butter was going to kill you so we had to use margarine because trans fat was so much healthier than saturated fat. Oh and they made us put all our babies to sleep on their bellies because it was safer and healthier too. Seriously! Do they test any of this stuff before they make these broad proclamations? Do you know how hard it is to flip a sleeping baby over and have him remain sleeping? Of course, nine years later I had my second child. He had colic and needed to sleep on his tummy. Which they assured me would lead to his certain death. I became a little unbalanced . . . it was the lack of sleep . . .
back to the linguine . . .
You can go ahead and turn the heat on to get the butter and oil melting together. They love each other and want to be together.
What would clam linguine be without garlic? This recipe's star is garlic! The clams give umami flavor. They really do play more of a cameo roll. The garlic adds heat and bitterness and POW!
You want the garlic minced up nice and fine so you get lots of garlicky notes from it!
You could use a Microplane, if you liked.
You can even mince it up with a chef's knife.
You could crush it with a mortar and pestle.
You could use a fork and salt and a little muscle.
You must mush it as much as you can!
Yes you must Sam I am!
Really, I'm only drinking hot tea, really!
Shake up your cans of clams and turn them over. Minced clams sometimes get stuck in the fridge at the bottom and who wants to waste clams? Who wants to spend time with a skewer trying to pick them out of there? Of course, these clams are chopped so they're in bigger pieces but waste not want not! If you use minced clams the children will think it's chopped up chicken in there. Chopped clams make them wonder why mom is serving them bits of rubber bands.
Here's can number one! Open the rest and throw them in too!
OREGANO! I told you this dish was about garlic didn't I? Well oregano is the beautiful starlet that flits in and out of the picture to tantalize!
Give it a good rub down with your nice clean fingers as you put it in. Helps it release all those beautiful oils into the butter and oil.
Basil is our big name co-star for the garlic. Yes, I'm using dried basil! It's super "basily" but without the vegetal notes. Fresh basil is great in most things but for this recipe I really love the flavor and depth of dried basil.
It smells so good! My mouth is watering!
Give it a good rub as it goes in! My hands smell so good now. The cat was momentarily interested in them. He would prefer I rub the clams though . . .
Pepper? Why yes please! As much as you like. A little red pepper flake would be lovely at this point too.
Now a little taste to check on salt.
Just a half teaspoon. It's going to cook down you see. These clams and their broth weren't very salty. We're going to be throwing salt in the linguine noodles and adding Parmesan at table so I'm really holding back.
Bring it to a boil and then simmer it for 30 minutes. You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate it till you need it later in the day.
You've got a big pot of boiling salted water going right? Throw the linguine in! Make sure to stir it at the one minute mark!
Cook it really, really, al dente. I like to start checking it two minutes before the lowest time recommended on the box. Plus, I start to time it from the minute I throw it in the water--NOT when it returns to boil! Reserve a cup of the pasta water for insurance! Drain your noodles and mix the sauce and noodles together. The brothiness will finish cooking the noodles so if you cooked them too far you'll end up with more of a delicious hearty pasta stew. Let it sit two minutes. If they're not tender yet and they've soaked up the sauce you can add some of the reserved pasta water and put them on the stove to finish for a few minutes. I LOVE cooking insurance.
You can add a 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan if it's looking a little soupy. It usually thickens it up a little.
I like to garnish with some beautiful parsley and Parmesan cheese of course!
This is so garlicky and herbaceous I just love it. The clams are meaty little nuggets of deliciousness. The noodles are at their best coated in butter and fruity olive oil! This is a lovely meal to have with a salad. Maybe a nice balsamic dressing to give that sweet acid balance to the salty bitter garlic and herbs? We actually had lovely sweet carrots. You could even mix in a bag of frozen peas to give the sweet balance.
Clam Linguine
4 cans of minced or chopped clams, undrained
1/2 cup of butter
1/4 cup olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 Tbsp dried basil leaves, crushed
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb of dried linguine
garnish
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
chopped flat leaf parsley
Mix sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer 30 minutes. Boil pasta in hot salted water for 6-7 minutes, timing it from the time it enters the water. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. When pasta is flexible yet still chewy drain. Put pasta and sauce in pot and allow pasta to finish cooking for 1-2 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper. Garnish and serve.
TO MAKE THIS FOR TWO JUST CUT ALL MEASUREMENTS IN HALF!!!
Wine recommendations? A nice rose would have a lovely crisp sweetness against the pasta sauce. If you don't care for pink wines I would recommend a Pinot Grigio. The white wine of your choice is fine too!
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