Linguine and White (____) Sauce

Not that I will ever use this recipe...but it was well written.

By the way... that's for 4 people (not the 2 I normally write).

And I also forgot to add, if you like more "oil" in your sauce (an American thing... not an Italian), you can always add more butter or evoo in that last step.

Good job Matt.

OK. Mine:

This is more of a clam sauce

I'll skip the boiling of the water for the pasta, etc.... I figure "most" know how to do that.

1 Pound of Linguini
1/2 stick salted butter (more or less, I just hack)
Extra Virgin OO
1 Cup white wine
2 dozen fresh clams in shell (not little ones)
3 cans of chopped clams (normal tuna sized cans) with juice - that's the flavor
Fresh parsley cut up into smaller bits
7-8 cloves of Garlic (I use a lot)
Italian Bread (you'll want to lap up the juice later ) - Mine makes a lot of juice

You can throw in a few lobster parts too and it's great.

I will try to be precise, but I do it so quick, it's hard to remember everything at the keyboard here, but I made it last night so I think I'm good.

Large wide sauce pan or any big soup pot

Heat a good amount of olive oil ( I probably use 3/4 of a cup, but I just pour it in). Low heat obviously.

Put in garlic (I chop the garlic bigger, not thicker, just longer when I do this vs. my pasta sauce, I like big slim garlic pieces with the clam sauce), chopped parsley, simmer for 2-3 minutes low heat - don't brown garlic - you want it soft and white, not darker or hardened, then add in cup of white wine and the butter. heating the parsley with the garlic really gives this a nice flavor vs. "tossing in" parsley and it smells great when doing it. Heat for another 2-3 minutes or use your judgement. You can only screw that part up by cooking too long.

Put in the 3 cans of clams with the juice and the 2 dozen shelled clams.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the fresh clams open (I'll move the clams around every few minutes or so and re-cover). Turn off heat and let sit for another 3 minutes, half covered to let some of the hot air out. Let the mixture come together. I try to perfectly time the removing of the pasta from the water now.

The key to remember is that clams cook super quick and the chopped clams are already cooked, so don't heat too long.

I put a cup of so of the juice over the linguini with some of the chopped clams to mix in some flavor and to keep the pasta from sticking, but don't pour too much. I then pour the entire sauce mixture into a separate bowl for the table, with a big serving spoon. This way we have a big bowl of the juice and fresh clams to spoon over our pasta throughout the meal.

I also like to just pick on the clams anyway.

There are many ways to do this. I prefer to use good canned chopped clams, because the juice from them really makes it and the chopped clams are in every bite you take. Plus you have the whole clams and the shell to spoon up the juice if you want. If you do this right, you shouldn't need to add any salt or pepper, unless you are a salt addict.

Don't forget the Bread! You'll also be glad you cut the garlic bigger, patting the bread into the sauce with long thin garlic pieces sticking to the bread...yum.

Feeds 2 hungry people very well.

Enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter:
Feeds 2 hungry people very well.

I'll say!!! On the menu for this weekend!!!

Sounds great, Hunter and mwag. I do mine a litle diferently than Hunter, but not much. I use more garlic and no wine. I add the clam juice without the clams and reduce it substantially before adding the clams at the end.

The below is done in my very best Bella Donna style.

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter:
Good job Matt.

OK. Mine:

This is more of a clam sauce

I'll skip the boiling of the water for the pasta, etc.... I figure "most" know how to do that.

1 Pound of Linguiniokay first Hunter I don't like Linguini, I am going to use Macaronni instead.
1/2 stick salted butter (more or less, I just hack) What do yo mean more or less? I mean how hard is it, it is either more or less make up your mind
Extra Virgin OO I am going to use my citrus flavored Olive Oil, do you think that will make a diffence?
1 Cup white wineI am having a problem with this one, Can I use Turley instead?
2 dozen fresh clams in shell (not little ones) I hate clams, I will use Shrimp do you think that will make it tast strange or anything?
3 cans of chopped clams (normal tuna sized cans) with juice - that's the flavor
Fresh parsley cut up into smaller bits Yuck!!! Clams in a can, again I am going to use Shrimp. I really don't think you know what you are doing that is why I am changing everything.
7-8 cloves of Garlic (I use a lot)Way to much Garlic there and besides I dont have that much fresh garlic I will use Garlic Powder instead
Italian BreadMy local store has fresh French Bread so I will pick that up instead. (you'll want to lap up the juice later ) - Mine makes a lot of juice

You can throw in a few lobster parts too and it's great. Lobster I can't get fresh lobster in Dallas, I will have to settle for Crawfish

I will try to be precise, but I do it so quick, it's hard to remember everything at the keyboard here, but I made it last night so I think I'm good.

Large wide sauce pan or any big soup potNo sauce pan do you think a deep skillet will work?

Heat a good amount of olive oil ( I probably use 3/4 of a cup, but I just pour it in). Low heat obviously.

Put in garlic (I chop the garlic bigger, not thicker, just longer when I do this vs. my pasta sauce, I like big slim garlic pieces with the clam sauce) How many TBS of Garlic Powder should I use?, chopped parsley Will Cilantro work?, simmer for 2-3 minutes low heat - don't brown garlic - you want it soft and white, not darker or hardened, then add in cup of white wine and the butter. heating the parsley with the garlic really gives this a nice flavor vs. "tossing in" parsley and it smells great when doing it. Heat for another 2-3 minutes or use your judgement. You can only screw that part up by cooking too long.

Put in the 3 cans of clams with the juice and the 2 dozen shelled clams. is this when I should dump in the Shrimp?

Enjoy!

Too funny! ...and yet too real.

Again... as homer Simpson once said...

quote:

It's funny 'cause it's true.

Ever heard of variation?

My recipe is about the same as Hunter's but I add a small squeeze of lemon juice and about a half teaspoon of finely chopped zest.

quote:

Originally posted by Bella Donna:
Ever heard of variation?

Variation is one thing. Desecration is another...

quote:

Originally posted by Bella Donna:
Ever heard of variation?

I think "mutation" is the correct term.

Violation, or "vile"-lation

I make mine in a similar fashion. I saute garlic in plenty of good quality EVOO over medium-low heat. I then add the liquid of 2-3 cans of chopped clams plus a bottle of clam juice. Add plenty of black pepper. I let this reduce till the bubbles start to enlarge and the color changes from pale blue to cream, then add the reserved clams. Warm through and toss with the pasta. If I have fresh clams I will steam and add them as well. Better but still good without them. I add fresh grated cheese, but this is certainly not traditional. Taste for salt and serve. Great with toasted garlic bread.

We're doing this on Sunday. Those who do it similarly (Board-O,Hunter,Big M,Rex) what wine would you guys suggest?

Something to cut through the oil, maybe a NZ SB.

I actually had the Sbragia Chard with it, which was probably too heavy and everything, but I was in La-La land with the clams and the 15.4% alc to notice anything negative. Well, the only negative was it was Valentines day and my wife got too drunk to jump her

I'd agree with Board-O, a NZ SB would probably work better or a lighter bodied US Chard or White burg.

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter:
Well, the only negative was it was Valentines day and my wife got too drunk to jump her

I'll make sure I tell her next time we're all together.

I'm waiting for the "That's the best time to jump her" line now from someone.

I prepared this dish a couple of weeks ago and paired it with a bottle of the 2004 Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina. Quite good.

Was supposed to make this last night, but we went out to dinner with some friends instead. So, I'll make it tonight.

Picked up a Gavi di Gavi to use and drink with this.

So I made this for dinner last night, and it was delicious, but I think it could have been better. I screwed up.

In the last step, my clams hadn't opened after 10 mins on a med heat. So I put the cover on fully (I had it cracked so steam could escape) and upped the heat to high. Well the clams opened... but all the steam condensed and fell back into the liquid. So, it was too runny for my liking.

Next time I'll keep it on med heat with top cracked, but just let it go longer. I'll start the pasta a little later to make sure the clams finish first.

Otherwise it was delicious, and Terra loved it as it. (She just kep saying... "Mmmmm."). It does make a lot of sauce to we refridgerated the leftovers, and will have it over linguine later.

Thanks, Hunter.

quote:

So, it was too runny for my liking.

I may have ben off on my timing, as I do it from memory. What does "runny" mean to you with this? It's supposed to be thin, like juice.

Yeah... just like water. I thought with all the oil and butter (even though there is wine and clam juice) it would be a tad thicker. I'm sure if I reduced the sauce it would have been perfect. However, the linguine was already done, and I didn't want it to get cold. Still, the flavor was excellent.

The starch from the pasta will thicken the sauce a little, but yes, it is supposed to be kind of soupy.

I can't remember what I drank the last time I made this--I think it may have been a Pinot Bianco from Alto-Adige.