Gretchen McKay | (TNS) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Linguine with clam sauce is a classic Italian dish that every home chef should regularly make. It's very easy to prepare with simple ingredients, and it's light and full of flavor for a pasta dish. It's not fishy, but instead sweet and garlicky, with plenty of chopped parsley for a fresh, earthy touch.
My husband had been asking me to make it for weeks, after watching a video of an Italian chef making it on Instagram. It's the one seafood he can eat, and after watching him fix a section of kitchen floor ruined by a leaky dishwasher, I had to agree he deserved the treat of homemade pasta with his choice of topping.
Overall, it took about 10 minutes, not including the time spent cleaning the clams with a brush under cold water or the 15 minutes or so it took to run fresh pasta dough through my noodle roller.
You can find live hardshell littleneck clams, a very sweet and tender variety, in many larger groceries and seafood markets. Canned chopped clams in your pantry can be a fine substitute for fresh in a pinch, and are also cheaper, eliminating the worry of clam shells stinking up your garbage until trash day.
I had the time on a lazy Sunday to make homemade linguine, but any favorite boxed spaghetti or other long pasta works well. Cook the pasta while you make the sauce, and dinner is ready in a flash.
Linguine with Clam Sauce
PG tested
1/2 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
Splash of fresh orange juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
2 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed, rinsed and drained
1 pound fresh or boxed linguine, or any long pasta you prefer
Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic and stir for a minute or two, until it is sizzling and fragrant (but be careful not to burn it). Sprinkle in red pepper flakes, then add wine and a good splash or two of orange juice, and bring to a boil.
Add parsley, then add the clams and gently shake the pan so they spread out evenly across the bottom. Give it a gentle stir, then place a lid on top, and adjust the heat so the liquid stays at an even simmer.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Add pasta and cook until it is al dente, usually between 1-5 minutes depending on the thickness of your pasta if it is fresh, and 10 minutes if it is dried.
Cook clams just until the shells open, about 5 minutes; larger shells might take a minute or two longer. Discard any clams that don’t open, because that means it’s dead.
If desired, remove half of the clams to a bowl, remove the meat from the shell and finely chop with a sharp knife. You also can serve the clams right from the pan onto the pasta.
After the pasta is cooked, use a slotted spoon or tongs to transfer it to a large bowl. Then, pour the clams and sauce on top, and add chopped clam meat if you have it. Gently mix everything together until the pasta is coated with the sauce, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve immediately.
Alternatively, you can directly put the pasta into the saucepan and mix it well with the sauce.
Serves 4.
— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette
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