Lunchtime Linguine with Clam Sauce

I love pasta, and this is a favorite sauce. It's decidedly lowbrow, what with the canned minced clams and all. You could obviously class it up and get yourself a pound of littlenecks and do whatever it is that is done to littlenecks to cook and serve them. For a quick sauce, the canned clam version really is quite good. Just make sure they're minced.

I remain confused about the minced clams, namely why minced clam pieces are larger than chopped clam pieces when mincing should always produce smaller pieces. A chopped garlic clove, for example, may only yield 3-4 smaller pieces, whereas mincing the same clove increases the number of pieces (and reduces their size) by a factor of 10. Anyway, don't buy canned chopped clams. They're weird.

Linguine with Clam Sauce
Print recipe only here

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound thin spaghetti or linguini
1 can Snow's minced clams
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
pinch crushed chili peppers
2 T chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan

METHOD
Fill a large sauce pan with water. Add 1 t kosher salt and bring to a boil.

In a small skillet heat 1-2 T olive oil over medium heat. Add sliced garlic and crushed chilis and saute until the garlic bubbles and is fragrant. Add another teaspoon of olive oil to the pan along with the clams and white wine. Bring to a gentle boil. Simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes while you cook the pasta.

When the pasta is just about cooked through, season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Drain the pasta and pour it into a bowl. Top with sauce, chopped parsley and Parmesan. Serve and enjoy.