For some reason I've been craving spaghetti and clams for the past couple of days. So today Tonya and I made a quick stop to the Safeway on the way home where I picked up a couple of cans of clams-- yeah, yeah, I know they weren't fresh out of the rake-- but they got the job done admirably. I also picked a cheap bottle of white wine while I was there to use for cooking.
This is another really easy one and again even the kids liked it. The only "work" part was crushing the garlic. I kind of played around with this one and added about a tablespoon basil and a pinch of oregano so it ended up being a merging of pesto and white wine clam sauce. Adding a pinch of ground red pepper added a hint of zing, too. And let's face it, the smell of garlic being sautéed in olive oil is olfactory perfection.
Try it some time:
2 6 oz. Cans of Chopped Clams in Clam Juice
2-3 Garlic Cloves, Crushed/Minced (go for the 3, go for the 3!)
1/3 Cup Finely Chopped White Onion
2 Tbl Butter
1 Tbl Basil
1/4 tsp Ground Red Pepper
1/2 cup White Wine
1 lb Thin Linguini/Spaghetti
Salt and Pepper to taste
Start the water for the pasta-- don't forget to salt the water!
Open the cans of clams and drain the juice from each one into a container-- save the juice, you'll be needing it! Coat the bottom of a pan with Olive Oil and heat on medium-high. Saute the garlic-- the kitchen will now smell perfect. Lower the heat and carefully add the wine and the reserved clam juice from the cans. Then add the Basil, Red Pepper, and a few grinds of black pepper. Let it simmer.
Cook the pasta. When the pasta is almost ready, add the chopped clams to the simmering sauce and let them heat thoroughly-- don't cook them too long or they'll get too tough and rubbery.
Drain the pasta, put it in a large bowl, add the butter and give it few tosses. Pour the clam sauce over top. Serve it up.
Add a Caesar salad as a side, and some white wine, and you're go to go.