06.12.08

How to Make Clam Linguine

Posted in Recipes at 10:07 pm by Chef Matt

A classic of Italian cooking, Linguine alle Vongole is one of those dishes that is not only sublime in its natural ocean flavors, but is so simple to prepare, you’d almost have to wonder why you don’t make it every day. Perhaps because so many recipes for this are full of flour and gumminess that are just completely inedible. Well, once you have this simple step-by-step approach, you’ll have a simple recipe that is clean, fresh and delicious, and one you’ll be able to make whenever you want.

Let’s get started. You’ll need the following all ready to go (since this all comes together fast):

click any of these photos to enlarge

15 (or so) littleneck clams - scrubbed clean
2 Tbsp rough chopped basil
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Generous plash of white wine
Kosher salt
dash of red pepper flakes (not pictured)
4 oz linguine or other long pasta (I’m using squid ink spaghetti since squid ink pasta goes so well with seafood dishes.)

Oil and garlic - the base for all good cooking.

Of course you’ll want to start a pot of salted water boiling for the pasta. In fact, if you have the pasta water boiling, and the pan and oil for the clams heated, you can pretty much cook both simultaneously in the same amount of time. So drop the pasta into the water, and throw the garlic in the pan. (If it’s not sizzling on contact, your pan is not hot enough…)

Of course, if you just dump all the pasta and boiling water all over the measuring cup, you’re on your own…

One ingredient you may need later on in the recipe is some of the pasta water. If the pasta is too dry and needs more sauce, this is how you are going to add it. But I often have the problem that I drain the pasta, sending all the pasta water down the drain and then remember I needed some of the water. Here is my trick to remember how to save some. When you put your colander in the sink for the pasta, place a measuring cup in it. When the magic time comes to drain the pasta, you’ll remember to scoop out a cup for yourself - which I promise is more than enough.

I always carefully measure when I add booze to food.

Once the garlic has a little color to it, you pretty much just want to throw everything else in. Tomatoes, clams, basil, red pepper, and a big old splash of white wine. Give the pan a few shakes to mix everything together, and then slap a cover on it. The wine will start to boil, and the steam will make the clams pop open to reveal their lovely meat inside.

All I did was throw it all in a pan, and it looks like this good that fast…

When steam is coming out from the side of the lid, you’re probably pretty close to where you need to be. Take of the lid and take a peek. If the clams are ALL open, then keep the lid off. If only some are open, put the lid back on and keep cooking. Of course if all the other clams are open and one is just refusing to budge, then it probably is a bad clam, and should be discarded.

Remember, if they aren’t open by now, you don’t want to eat them.

Take the clams out of the pan and place them in a separate bowl. The easiest way to do this is to use tongs. Grip them by placing one of the tongs inside the clam, and grip one of the two shells. Then be sure to tip the clam to drain all the natural juice out of the clam and into the sauce. When all of the clams are out, the pasta should be just about done. (You’ve been keeping a close eye on it, right?…) Save some of the liquid, and drain the pasta in your colander.

This is where the magic happens. Add the pasta to the pan with the clam sauce. See, the pasta (assuming you didn’t rinse it, which you should NEVER do) is coated with starch that is just dying to absorb some kind of sauce. So the pasta slides into the pan, grabs all this wonderfully reducing sauce, and with just a few tosses, it’s ready to go. If the sauce is too wet, cook it down a little more, if it’s too dry, this is where that pasta water will come in handy.

Place the pasta on a large plate, and top with all the open clams. And be sure to pour any juices in the bowl with clams over the pasta. That stuff is pure flavor, so don’t waste it! Serve with the same white wine you cooked with, and you have a meal that you’ve thrown together in less than 10 minutes, and yet could be served to the finest company.

Enjoy.