Linguine With White Clam Sauce
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A special weeknight, date night, entertaining and holiday dish, linguine and white clam sauce will never disappoint and perfect for the feast of the seven fishes.
Ingredients
  • 1 pound linguine or spaghetti
  • 1 lb. fresh shucked clams, previously frozen which I buy at Whole Foods, or ask your fish monger if they carry them, defrosted in fridge
  • (NOTE:) You can replace the frozen shucked clams with 2 7 oz. bottles of whole shelled. baby clams, use the juice it comes with or drain them and buy bottled clam juice.
  • 1 dozen whole fresh clams in the shell like Little necks or steamers. ( I always get a few more in case some don't open.)
  • 1 bottle of clam juice
  • 6 garlic cloves chopped
  • ⅓ to ½ cup of dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio, Chardonay or Savignon Blanc
  • ¼ cup and more of olive oil
  • chili flakes enough to your liking
  • a big punch of fresh chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • a squeeze of lemon, not too much, just a little
Instructions
  1. You can store your fresh clams in a bowl with ice cubes on top a day ahead, do not submeergee in water.
  2. When ready to use the clams, scrub them first on the shell then place them into a bowl with cold water and a small handful of cornmeal, the cornmeal is said to draw out the sand, so I always do it. Let it sit for 10 minutes and scoop them out and discard the sandy water.
  3. Do the rinsing several times until you don't see any sand at the bottom of the bowl.
  4. In a big pot start your water boiling for the pasta, don't forget to add a nice handful of salt to the water.
  5. In a deep large skillet add the olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes, saute til lightly golden.
  6. Add the Little neck clams and the wine and let it reduce a little.
  7. Pour in ¾ of the bottled clam juice, (depending on juicy you want it you can decide to toss in the rest) the fresh shucked and defrosted clams or the 2 drained jars of clams plus a squeeze of lemon, put a lid on top and cook and steam til the whole clams open up and everything melds together, it doesn’t take very long.
  8. Discard any unopened clam shells or broken shells as well.
  9. Cook your pasta til al dente and toss into the clam sauce mix.
  10. Add the parsley, maybe more red pepper flakes and a good drizzle of olive oil all over.
  11. Enjoy!
Recipe by Proud Italian Cook at https://www.prouditaliancook.com/2021/12/linguine-with-white-clam-sauce.html