Linguine with clams
This recipe is going to take the cake even if you’ve made linguine with clams gazillion times! Absolutely wonderful. You will definitely be making it over and over again!
0h 30m prep
0h 50m total
easy difficulty
12 ingredients
Cooking
- Linguine
- 1 lb (~ 500 g)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 6 tbsp
- Shallots
- ½ cup (about 2 shallots, finely chopped)
- Garlic
- 6 cloves (coarsely chopped)
- White wine Pinot grigio
- 1 cup (or Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc)
- Red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp
- Littleneck clams
- 2 lb (~ 1 kg, 40 to 45, scrubbed)
- Fresh parsley
- ¼ cup plus 2 tbsp (flat-leaf, finely chopped)
- Butter
- 3 tbsp (unsalted)
- Lemon
- 1 tsp of zest from 1 lemon, plus more to taste
- Lemon
- 1 tbsp of juice from 1 lemon, plus more to taste
- Kosher salt
- to taste
Useful tools
Method
1
Bring about 4 litres of water and 2 tablespoons of Kosher salt to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Add the linguine and cook following the instructions on the package until just shy of al dente. The pasta should still be firm to the bite since it will continue cooking for a minute or two in the sauce.
2
Meanwhile, in a very large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds until just golden.
3
Then, add the wine, red pepper flakes, kosher salt and fresh parsley.
- White wine Pinot grigio
- 1 cup
- Red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp
- Kosher salt
- ¾ tsp
- Littleneck clams
- 40-45 pieces
- Fresh parsley
- ¼ cup
4
Toss in the clams and bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook covered for about 6 to 8 minutes until the clams open. Discard unopened clams, if any.
5
After cooking the linguine, reserve half of the cup of the cooking water. Then drain the linguine in a colander (do not rinse).
6
Add the pasta and clams to the sauté pan. Turn the heat up to medium and cook the linguini with the clams for 1 to 2 minutes. Toss occasionally until the pasta absorbs most of the sauce and is just tender. Add some of the reserved cooking water to keep moist if required.
7
Next, remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, toss to coat. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary with more salt, lemon zest and/or lemon juice.
8
Serve immediately and enjoy!
