Clams, clams, and more clams! This linguine with clams is as good or better than you can get in the best restaurants, the only difference is the price! All you have to do is follow the recipe exactly. Don’t leave anything out. Don’t add anything extra, including cheese. Use fresh basil, not dried. Don’t substitute canned tomatoes for fresh; this linguine with clam sauce recipe is meant to be made with tomatoes at the peak of summer ripeness. And most importantly… ***do not overcook the clams!***
The hard shell clams add their liquor to the dish. Combining them with the white wine and heavy cream creates a light but very flavorful clam sauce for the linguine.
EQUIPMENT: large cast iron skillet, tongs, saucepan
Linguine with Clams Ahoy! Sauce
Cuisine: Italian, MediterraneanDifficulty: Average4
servings15
minutes15
minutesA terrific summer recipe with fresh hard shell clams and tomatoes.
Ingredients
3 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted organic butter
2 tablespoons chopped garlic from a jar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup good, crisp white wine; such as Pinot grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
1/2 cup organic heavy cream
8 oz dry semolina linguine
1 lb hard shell clams
1/2 pound fresh chopped clams from the fish counter, or substitute 1 10 oz can of whole or chopped clams
2 fresh red, ripe tomatoes; chopped into 1/4 inch cubes
sea salt
freshly ground black peppercorns
finely chopped fresh basil
Directions
- Place a cast iron skillet over low heat. Add bacon pieces and cook turning occasionally until brown. Use tongs to remove bacon pieces from skillet and set aside on paper towels. Pour out all but one tablespoon of bacon fat.
- Place a saucepan over very high heat and bring salted water to a boil.
- Meanwhile, increase the heat to the skillet to medium high. Add olive oil and butter to the skillet.
- As soon as the butter has melted add garlic and red pepper flakes. Sauté until garlic is aromatic.
- Add the wine and reduce for two minutes.
- Add the cream and stir to reduce until slightly thickened; just a few minutes.
- Add the hard shell clams. Cover with a lid. Use tongs to remove clams as soon as they open and set aside. Discard any clams that don’t open.
- Remove skillet from heat.
- Cook linguine to al dante according to package directions; use the minimum cooking time. Never add oil to the cooking water. Use tongs to remove linguine from saucepan and arrange on plates.
- Place the skillet back on medium high heat and add the fresh chopped clams or canned clams with their juices and cook for one minute.
- Remove from heat and stir in bacon, cooked hard shell clams, and tomatoes.
- Immediately spoon Clams Ahoy! sauce over linguine.
- Season with salt and pepper and add a generous amount of basil. Serve immediately.
