does anyone have any "special" ingredients they use in the typical linguine and clam sauce?

tia

I assume you mean white clam sauce?

I use:

Whole clams - not too big (1 to 2 dozen)
Chopped clams in juice (1 can or 2)
Garlic (cut long and pretty thick)
White Wine
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Butter
Fresh Parsely
Good bread - french bread is best

Heat the garlic, butter, oil and parsely at the same time. Then add the wine (1/2-1 cup). Heat enough to allow the alc. to disperse a little. Add chopped clams with the juice, then whole clams last. Once whole clams open - you're done. Measurements, you can feel out. The more butter and garlic the better - of course.

The more wine and clam juice, the looser it will be. I like it soaking (the better to dunk that great bread), but you can adjust the liquid, if you want less swimming around. Thicker - add a tablespoon or so of flour and stir until it thickens.

thanks hunter, i'm about 1/2 thru it now, and pretty much followed along with what you have, with the addition of some red pepper flakes, a shallot, finely diced artichoke hearts, and the juice from one lemon.

just looking to make it a bit "different"..

Yeah. Those additions sound good - I've used lemon. You just have to be careful not to overwhelm the clam flavor with other ingredients. Otherwise, it hurts the point of the sauce.

Enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter:
I assume you mean white clam sauce?

I use:

Whole clams - not too big (1 to 2 dozen)
Chopped clams in juice (1 can or 2)
Garlic (cut long and pretty thick)
White Wine
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Butter
Fresh Parsely
Good bread - french bread is best

Heat the garlic, butter, oil and parsely at the same time. Then add the wine (1/2-1 cup). Heat enough to allow the alc. to disperse a little. Add chopped clams with the juice, then whole clams last. Once whole clams open - you're done. Measurements, you can feel out. The more butter and garlic the better - of course.

The more wine and clam juice, the looser it will be. I like it soaking (the better to dunk that great bread), but you can adjust the liquid, if you want less swimming around. Thicker - add a tablespoon or so of flour and stir until it thickens.

I use a similar recipe, but skip the canned clams. Substitute a couple dozen cherrystones added a little earlier, once they open remove the meat then dice them up & add them back. Fresh beats out canned any day. For garnish I always use a bunch of little necks left in the shell. Also, soaking the clams after they've been scrubbed in an ice cold cornmeal broth for 30 minutes or so adds a delicious sweetness to them.

quote:

use a similar recipe, but skip the canned clams. Substitute a couple dozen cherrystones added a little earlier, once they open remove the meat then dice them up & add them back. Fresh beats out canned any day.

I've done that too. Still, I like the flavor the supplemental clam juice gives it - just more concentrated. All fresh and no strong juice doesn't give it as much flavor for me. It's like a good stock - it really helps the flavor. Even if you don't use the chopped clams themselves, I recommend using the juice. To each his own. Just the way I like it.

We always make the red clam sauce. Here is an old family recipe' for marinara sauce with clams.

Saute' four cloves of thinly sliced garlic in Extra Virgin Olive Oil(enough EVOO to cover the bottom of a large pot). Saute' until the garlic is soft but not brown. Add about a handful of chopped, flat leaf, parsley and 1/2 teaspoon of oregano until the parsley is wilted.

Add 1 - 28oz. can of diced tomatoes and 1 - 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes. Lower the heat to simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionaly.

After washing the clams (little neck or mahogoney clams, 50 count) add them to the sauce, increase the heat, cover the pot and cook until the clams open.

While the sauce is cooking, boil the water and cook the pasta to your liking.

After draing the pasta, add the clams and the sauce to the pasta in a large bowl.

Serve and provide an extra bowl for the discarded clam shells.

Enjoy with a great bottle of Italin wine of your choice.

You can also substitute the clams with mussels or use both.

Enjoy!!

Bob.

does anyone ever top with cheese? i have some italian fulvi romano i was considering...

quote:

does anyone ever top with cheese?

Cheese is against the law with fish sauce in my house. An old Edict from my grandmother, that's still obeyed.

Still, how can a good cheese hurt anyone? Go for it.

i agree on both accounts.

it shouldn't be used.

but how can i resist?

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter:

quote:

use a similar recipe, but skip the canned clams. Substitute a couple dozen cherrystones added a little earlier, once they open remove the meat then dice them up & add them back. Fresh beats out canned any day.

I've done that too. Still, I like the flavor the supplemental clam juice gives it - just more concentrated. All fresh and no strong juice doesn't give it as much flavor for me. It's like a good stock - it really helps the flavor. Even if you don't use the chopped clams themselves, I recommend using the juice. To each his own. Just the way I like it.

I agree 100%. I sometimes add half a small bottle of clam juice to the mix to get that intensity of flavor and some extra liquid. It's a great addition in a lot of recipes to add another layer of flavor.

all finished AND consumed. semi success...

next time, less red pepper(i liked the heat, my wife not so much), and less lemon juice(maybe just the fact that i noticed it was too much?). and more clam juice.

the cheese didn't add or distract, so i suppose grandma hunters rule will also apply next time. no cheese!

grimaldi's sourdough garlic loaf worked perfect, as did the herb lamb eII(sauv blanc). but i'm sure a "coke, with no ice" would have worked too ...

thanks everyone. we should do this more often!

quote:

next time, less red pepper(i liked the heat, my wife not so much), and less lemon juice(maybe just the fact that i noticed it was too much?). and more clam juice.

Lemon and red pepper are very tough to take out, if not impossible after the fact.

I usually just leave that stuff on the table for others to apply as needed. You can always add.....

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter:
Lemon and red pepper are very tough to take out, if not impossible after the fact.

I usually just leave that stuff on the table for others to apply as needed. You can always add.....

perfect advice.

quote:

Originally posted by TBird:
grimaldi's sourdough garlic loaf worked perfect

MMMMMMMMM. Grimaldi's... Anyone who thinks they've had the best pizza in the US needs to go by TBird's neighborhood. Also, one of my favorite local Italian joints is around the corner from you- al di la.

al di la could be THE best restaurant in all of brooklyn, in my opinion.

i'm very lucky. what, 4 blocks away?

Skip the lemon juice, TBird.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
Skip the lemon juice, TBird.

i figured it'd work due to the artichoke hearts. but ultimately, yes, i will cut back, or possibly skip, the whole lemon sitch next time.

Skip the artichoke hearts. We used to go to Umberto's for great linguine with white clam sauce. As far as I can tell, it was just clams, evoo, garlic, and maybe some oregano or parsely.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
Skip the artichoke hearts. We used to go to Umberto's for great linguine with white clam sauce. As far as I can tell, it was just clams, evoo, garlic, and maybe some oregano or parsely.

would normally agree, but if you had kept up with the thread, i was "just looking to make it a bit "different".....

HELLLOOOOOOO?????

quote:

Originally posted by TBird:
would normally agree, but if you had kept up with the thread, i was "just looking to make it a bit "different".....

HELLLOOOOOOO?????

WHY ON EARTH?

Ahh, Umberto's. Wasn't there a famous mafia hit there?

True or not, I remember my father telling me so, and being scared to eat there.

I can still hear Joe Beningo on WFAN in NYC on his old overnight show screaming "Umbertoooooo's Clamhouse!"

quote:

Originally posted by Instant Access:
Ahh, Umberto's. Wasn't there a famous mafia hit there?

True or not, I remember my father telling me so, and being scared to eat there.

I can still hear Joe Beningo on WFAN in NYC on his old overnight show screaming "Umbertoooooo's Clamhouse!"

You remember well. Joe Gallo was machine gunned there in the early 1970s. We used to go there a lot late at night. It was on the corner of Hester and Mulberry. It moved quite a while ago, to Grand Street, I believe, but I haven't been back. All of their seafood was outstanding.