OH MY GOSH.
OH.
MY.
GOSH.
I almost don’t have words.
I said ALMOST, don’t get so excited.
This!^!^!
Listen, I knoooow linguine with clams is a little cliché. But I don’t even rightly care because the amount of life joy your mouth experiences when it eats linguine with clams is other worldly.
Other sea-y?
We found this tiny seafood shack in Mystic last week, and it was SO BEYOND ADORABLE. Which I realize this is just the way things look in New England. Everything is adorable. Everything is charming and quaint. And no one is taken aback by it. Everyone just accepts it all LA DEE FRICKIN’ DA.
Except me. Very loudly. And all the time.
The second we walked in, I basically screamed, “THIS IS SO BEAUUUUTIFUL.” And the seafood dude looked at me like I had a little too much seaweed in the brain, while Aaron held back apologetic laughter and put his hand on my shoulder, “Calm down, Bev. You’re loud.”
BUT LOOK AT IT.
LOOK AT THAT ROOM.
My hair looks like a rotting squirrel here, but look at all that fresh shellfish, omg.
My mom’s actually quite allergic to shellfish, so look away, Mom!
I realize allergies don’t work like that.
Also, you can’t get 12 clams in Kansas City for $6.99. It’s more like $23.99 + your left arm + your pancreas + a lock of hair + a pint of blood + your right leg. On a good day.
So this meal! I like to think of it as Chicken Piccata of the SEA. I approach the recipe THE EXACT SAME WAY.
Almost.
You’ll let your clams soak in salt water for AT LEAST an hour. Overnight is fine, too. Just whatever you have time for.
Then you’ll melt some butter and lightly sauté a few cloves of garlic until they’re nice and fragrant. NOOOOW, add a cup of white wine and let that bubble up for a few seconds. Add a bit of clam juice, throw the lid on and watch the magic happen.
A few minutes later the clams just pop open, one by one and you have to explain murder to a four-year old.
IT’S THE CIIIIIRCLE OF LIIIIIFE.
She handled it okay.
Will may need therapy.
Now, I didn’t add the linguine to the CLAMS because I was afraid that tossing everything together would rip the clams out of their shells, and I wanted that aesthetic. SO SUE ME.
So what I did was tong out each clam shell and place them on a plate to the side. Then I transferred the pasta to the winey-clam sauce, took the heat off, added the cheese, juice from half a lemon, and most of the parsley. Much like piccata, see?!
I mean sea?
You could also definitely add some crushed red pepper to the sauce early on, but I skipped it because toddlers.
Girlfriend, please.
The clams are out-of-this-world fresh, and a perfect match with the wine, garlic, butter and pasta.
I mean it is ridiculous. You’ll not understand your life the entire time you’re eating.
Add this to your meal plan. Pronto.
LIKE, I AM CRYING.
Ingredients
- 24 little neck clams, soaked in salt water for at least an hour and up to overnight
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbs. butter
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 (8 oz jar or can) clam juice
- 1 pound linguine
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan (more or less!)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the linguine until it reaches al-dente.
- In the meantime, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high. Add the garlic and sauté about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the clams to the pan and toss with the garlic butter. Add the wine and let it bubble up for about 30 seconds. Add the clam juice and a pinch of salt, cover with a lid and let it simmer about five minutes, or until the clams pop open one at a time. If any clams haven’t opened, discard it! It’s grody.
- At this point, you can use tongs and place the clams in their shells on a plate to the side. Then transfer the linguine to the pan, take the heat off, and add the juice from half the lemon, most of the chopped parsley and the parmesan cheese. Give it all a good toss. Divide the pasta among shallow, wide bows, and serve with the clams nestled back in!
- Extra lemon wedges, parsley and more cheese? Duh.
- Serves 4.
Ugh.
Let’s not talk about what’s happening with Will in this photo, ‘mkay?
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