A classic Italian dish featuring tender linguine pasta tossed with fresh clams, garlic, white wine, and parsley, resulting in a flavorful and satisfying seafood pasta delicacy.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
- 1/4 white onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 (8 ounce) bottles clam juice
- 4 (6.5 ounce) cans chopped clams, drained, juice reserved
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, or as needed
- 8 ounces linguine pasta
- 12 fresh cherrystone or littleneck clams
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or as needed
Instructions
- Pour a thin layer of olive oil into a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onions and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and crushed red pepper, and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Pour in white wine, bay leaves, parsley, oregano, thyme, black pepper, and salt. Increase heat to bring mixture to a simmer; cook until volume is reduced by half.
- Stir in bottled clam juice, plus clam juice from 3 cans of chopped clams (set chopped clams aside to use later in the recipe). Reduce heat to medium. Combine clam juice from remaining can of chopped clams with cornstarch in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid; place in the refrigerator to use later for thickening sauce.
- Simmer sauce over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it begins to have the consistency of a sauce, about 20 minutes.
- While sauce simmers, cook the pasta: bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook linguine at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain and set aside to keep warm.
- While pasta cooks, steam the clams: In a pot with a steamer rack, bring water to a boil. Steam whole clams over medium heat, covered, stirring or shaking the pot occasionally until they open, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside.
- Now, pull it all together: add chopped canned clams to sauce; cook just until heated, about 3 minutes. If the sauce is still thin, shake the refrigerated clam juice-cornstarch slurry, and pour in a little at a time; cook and stir until just thick enough–the starch from the linguine will also thicken the sauce a little.
- Toss linguine in the pan with clam sauce and coat evenly. Divide linguine onto individual plates; divide whole clams on top. Top with Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.