INGREDIENTS:
- 1 pound linguini
- 1 bag of little neck clams
- 3 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 Tablespoon of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup dry white wine (I use Francis Ford Coppola Winery Chardonnay)
- ½ cup seafood stock or clam juice
- 1 – 6.5 ounce can or jar of chopped clams. Reserve the 1/3 cup of clam juice
- 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper chili flakes
- Juice from ½ lemon
- 1/8 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
Prepping clams takes a little time. Place clams in a sink with cold water, don’t cover clams with water. This helps with the clams letting out sand. I scrub every single one, I don’t know anyone who likes sandy clams. I use a small hand brush.
Prepare linguini according to package directions and undercook them about 1-2 minutes.
In a large frying pan, over medium/high heat, sauté garlic, pepper and chili flakes for about 2 minutes. Add white wine and cook until evaporated. Add clam juice, seafood stock, parsley and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add chopped and whole clams, stir and cover pan with lid. Cook for about 5 minutes or until clams open. (Discard unopened clams)
Drain pasta, and add 1/3 cup of pasta water to the clam sauce, bring to a boil.
Add linguini to pan with sauce, toss and cook for 1 minute. Place pasta into a platter and garnish with clams and freshly chopped parsley.
