linguini with clams

This is one of those potential dinner party standbys.

2 pounds smallneck clams, scrubbed
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup olive oil
8 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
cracked pepper
red pepper flakes
juice of 1 lemon
handful of parsley

Check clams; throw live ones into a saute pan with the white wine. (I had to add more wine, but I compensated by boiling the wine down to reduce a little more.) Over medium high heat, kill the clams. Begin removing them when they pop open and drop them in a mixing bowl. I found here that you do have to wait for them to really pop open--they will die early but may not necessarily be cooked thoroughly. I found the whole process took about 5-8 minutes.

Strain the sauce through a cheesecloth and fine mesh sieve. I had to do this twice, as the grit is quite fine that comes out of it. Definitely double up the cheese cloth. If you let the broth settle in the pan and poor slowly, much of the silt will settle at the bottom and you can avoid it altogether.

Warm the olive oil. (If you are not using tomatoes, then use 1/2 cup olive oil.) Add the garlic and sautee until golden. If using fresh tomatoes, then add them now and saute for an additional five minutes. (I used fire roasted tomatoes, so I skipped this step). Add the reserved clam broth and lemon juice. Simmer for about four minutes over medium-low heat, until reduced. Add the cracked pepper and red pepper flakes. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning.

Drain pasta and add it to the frying pan. Add the clams in their shells and any juices that may have accumulated. Toss well over low heat for one minute to coat the pasta. Transfer to a bowl and add a handful of Italian parsley. Toss gently.

Thoughts:

The sauce came out powerful. Avoid adding extra wine next time, which I did because I was worried 1/2 cup would not cook the clams properly. control lemon juice. The acid provides a nice balance to the richness of this sauce, but can quickly overpower it.

I must learn more about cooking clams. This sauce really was easy to prepare, but I am so inexperienced with clams that I am not even certain how the perfect clam should taste. At least one recipe claims that once the clams open, they are cooked. However, some of the clams opened but were still a bit gummy and reluctant to leave their shells. This left me to wonder if you have to wait until they completely pop open, rather than just break open by a 1/4 inch or so. A second question is whether to cover the pan with a lid in order to trap the steam. Recipes seem conflicted on this.