Spicy White Clam Sauce With Linguine
Linguine with White Clam Sauce is a classy and sophisticated Italian-American pasta dish, flavored by a white wine and clam sauce, soft linguine, baby clams, and topped with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 746kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dried linguine
- 3 Tablespoons pressed or minced garlic
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup dry white wine or chicken broth
- 8 oz clam juice 1 bottle — measure out ¼ cup and set aside
- 2 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 20 oz. baby clams 10 oz. each baby clams, drained (reserve the liquid)
- ½ cup chopped Italian parsley
- ½ teaspoon hot clili flakes
- kosher salt — see notes
- freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly shredded Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- In a 5 to 6 quart pan over high heat, bring about 4 quarts water to a boil. Add about 1 Tablespoons Kosher salt to the water. Add linguine and cook, stirring occasionally, until molto al dente (barley tender to bite, about 10 minutes. Ladle out ½ cup pasta water in case you need to thin the sauce.
- Whisk the 2 Tablespoon cornstarch into the ¼ cup clam juice and set aside.
- Meanwhile in a 10 to 12-inch large skillet over medium-high heat, sauté onion in the olive oil and butter until tender. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant but do not brown. About 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the white wine or broth, ¾ cup clam juice, and reserved liquid from clams and bring to a boil.
- Boil for about 2 minutes and then stir in the cornstarch clam juice slurry until the sauce thickens.
- Add clams and stir occasionally until hot, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Drain the linguine. Add to the clam sauce along with the parsley.
- Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Mix.
- Serve with an additional sprinkle of parsley and Parmesan cheese.
- If you’d like a thinner sauce - add a Tablespoon or two of pasta water.
Notes
TIPS:
- Stored linguine will absorb more clam sauce. When reheating, add a splash of water or broth to loosen the mixture and add moisture.
- To get the linguine to molto al dente (barely tender to the bite), boil it for 8 minutes, not 10.
- Ladle out ½ cup of pasta water and set this aside should you want to use it later in the recipe to thin the sauce. Start with a Tablespoon or two of the reserved pasta water and increase it if necessary.
- I’ve used a 5 to 6-quart pan with 4 quarts of water to cook the pasta. It’s important to season the water with salt when cooking pasta. For every 4 quarts (or a gallon) of water, use 2 Tablespoons of kosher salt (or 4 teaspoons of table salt).
Nutrition
Calories: 746kcal | Carbohydrates: 84g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 393mg | Potassium: 430mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1571IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 4mg