Recipe
Preparation minutes
Cook time minutes
ServingsServes 2
Episode67
Ingredients
- 1 lb of Manilla or Little Neck Clams.
- ½ lb of Linguini
- 2 to 3 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 Cloves of Garlic, sliced
- Pinch of Hot Pepper Flakes
- ¼ Cup of White Wine
- 1 Tbsp Fresh Chopped Parsley
- 1 Tbsp of Butter
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Preparation
-
1) Scrub the clams very, very well under cold running water with a stiff brush. Place the clams in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Let the clams soak for about 30 minutes.
2) Fill a large pot with water, sprinkle in a generous pinch of salt and bring it to a boil.
3) In a medium pot, add the clams. Add water to cover the clams and bring to boil. Cook just until the clams open. Remove clams from the water and set aside. Line a strainer with 2 coffee filters or cheesecloth, and ladle through ¾ of the clam juice making sure not to ladle any of it from the bottom of the pot, (sand sinks to the bottom and we want to avoid getting any sand in the sauce). Reserve ½ cup and store the rest into a container and store in the freezer. (This clam juice is a fantastic base for any kind of seafood sauce or seafood stew or just about anything seafood)
4) In a large sauté pan with high sides over medium high heat, sauté` the garlic in the olive oil until fragrant and lightly browned. 5) Add the hot pepper flakes and cook for 30 more seconds. Add the wine and clam juice and cook for a couple minutes.
6) Add the clams and butter to the wine mixture. Cover and cook for about a minute wile you drain your linguine.
7) Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley. Add the pasta and toss well to combine. Tumble the pasta onto a large plate and enjoy!
This dish has it all for me, simplicity, freshness, few ingredients and speediness. It’s what I call deliciousness all around!
This really and truly is one of my favorite dishes of all time, I grew up eating lots of seafood, I mean I grew up in Naples right on the sea so what do you expect? And my grandfather was a fisherman so when I say we had lots of great and fresh seafood you can imagine how fresh it was. But honestly the dishes my grandmother prepared with the fresh seafood were always so incredibly simple but absolutely divine. I always thought she was such a genius making these delicious meals with such little effort and not obsessing with loads of different ingredients. As I got older and started cooking on my own I realized all she was doing was cooking with the freshest ingredients possible and not only fresh but with ingredients that are in season. Example: she never cooked with fresh corn in the fall because she would say “even if the corn is fresh, it’s not in season so it will not taste that great”, and she would buy a fresh butternut squash instead. If you cook with fresh ingredients especially if those ingredients are in season, you barely have to add anything else for your dish to taste incredible.
Keep this little bit of info in mind whenever you go food shopping. Don’t walk in your grocery store in November with corn on the cob on your list. Let the fruit and vegetables that are in season be your guide. And besides, ingredients that are in season are always incredibly cheap. So stock up!
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