Linguini with Clams

One of my favourites. Originally blogged about here. Most (Mainly US) recipes call for removing the clam meat from the shells, or using cans of clams. I should think they’ll be even harder to find than fresh-frozen ones in the UK. personally I love sucking the shells clean!

Don't put parmesan on it!

• One pack frozen clams (200g) - or use a jar from Carluccio's
• two handful's of linguini (150g?)
• some chopped parsley - preferably broad-leaf
• handful of Cherry tomatoes (around a dozen)
• large glass of white wine
• one medium sized onion
• two cloves of garlic
• one lemon

Get your ingredients and pans ready. Wash tomatoes, parsley and lemon and boil the kettle for the pasta water - this saves time. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Get your clams out of the bag and rinse as well.

Fry the onion and garlic in glug of oil and small knob of butter.
Slash the cherry tomatoes and add to the pan. They’ll mush down during cooking anyway, but if you want you can cut them in half and scoop out the seas with a tea spoon (bit more effort mind).

Open the wine (slurp) and chop your parsley.

Add the kettle water to the pasta saucepan and get the pasta on. Should take about 10 mins to cook, plus 30 seconds to cool. This is a good guide on how to cook it properly.

By now the onion and garlic should have cooked. Lob in the clams in one quick go. Let them sizzle a second or two with the lid off to boil off any of the washing water, then add a good glug - say a large glass - of the white wine and a little squeeze of the lemon halves and put the lid on. Leave for 5 or 6 minutes, then shake the pan (with the lid still on).

Drain the pasta. Put the clams in the larger pan the pasta was cooked in as it’s bigger, add a little of the pasta to the now empty frying pan to ensure you collect every last drop of clamey goodness, before putting in the large pan with the clams and moving around with tongs to ensure it’s all mixed up.