Linguine with Clam Sauce
Linguine with clam sauce is elegant enough to impress, yet incredibly easy to throw together. Resist the urge to fussy up this classic pasta dish. The beauty of this recipe is in the simplicity of the garlicky white wine sauce, which allows the briny, oceanic shellfish to shine.
Linguine with Clam Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound linguine
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 48 little neck or cherrystone clams
- 3/4 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 8 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 1 pinch red chile flakes, or more to taste
- 4 tablespoons parsley, minced
- 3 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves removed and reserved
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
Bring a large volume of salted water to a boil. Cook linguine to al dente according to package. Drain, and toss in 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Reserve.
Scrub the clams and place in a large pot with the wine and water. Bring to a boil, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until all of the clams are open. Reserve clams to a bowl. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve to remove any bits of shell or sand.
Place the remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the garlic, chile, parsley and oregano leaves. Sauté for a few minutes, then add the strained cooking liquid, clams and pasta. Toss everything together to heat through, allowing the noodles to soak up some of the liquid.
Season with salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread.
Photographs by Madeleine Hill.
