linguine and clams with garlic white wine sauce

I have come to the conclusion that Anne Burrell’s food looks so good because a) I am starving when watching her Secrets to Becoming A Restaurant Chef, b) I am invested in her dah-ling chicken thighs and must know if they will in fact be the supastar she says they will be in her coq au vin, or c) her food looks that good because it is that good, and well people, there was only one way to find out. Out of the sixteen episodes I have saved as “Do not delete until I say so, or I will chop off your thumbs!” I randomly chose her linguine and clam recipe — the fact that the seafood market had the exact little neck clams that her recipe required helped that random selection as well.

I entered into Chef Anne mode without the slightest hesitation, calling my little clams dah-lings while scrubbing off the sand and telling my garlic it had fulfilled its garlic destiny as I removed the brown shards from the hot oil. Seriously, people, talking to your food works!

And though I bow down to Chef Anne and all her kitchen gloriousness, I still felt the need to put a Chef Meg stamp on the dish. I read complaints that she added cheese to a seafood dish, oh the horror! Puh-lease! Cheese makes all things taste good, if not better, and that is not negotiable….baby! So needless to say, I added the cheese without a second thought, and the cheese not only made it taste better, but it helped the sauce to thicken and stick to the pasta. Without such stickage you will end up with pasta sitting in thin soupy sauce, and that will not do.

Back to my Chef Meg stampage — I used twice the amount of wine and nixed the water. Yep, I lika the booze. It dun taste goooood! My second little sneaky sneak was leaving the minced garlic in the oil the second time I boiled the clams. The pasta was tender and the garlic infused boozy sauce was excellent, meaning answer C was in fact the correct conclusion. Though I can honestly say, even after I eat a huge Thanksgiving meal and sit down to watch her cook I will be immediately starving and honestly, I dare you not to say “Brown food tastes good” when browning your food. Her food is absolutely irresistible. BTB-RTS out.

Linguine and Clams with Garlic White Wine Sauce
Adapted from Anne Burrell

Serves 6

Anne Note: Purchase shellfish that’s sold in mesh bags. If you buy clams or mussels that are in plastic bags, you may be getting dead shellfish. The plastic makes them suffocate.

10 cloves garlic, smashed
5 dozen little neck clams, scrubbed under cold running water
2 cups white wine
2 large pinches of crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound linguine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley, plus additional for garnish
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves, plus additional for garnish
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, optioinal
Kosher salt (I did not need any)

Coat a large saute pan (I used a 6 quart stock pot, as she does on the show) with olive oil and add 5 garlic cloves and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring pan to medium high heat and cook until garlic becomes golden brown. (Meg note: I happen to love garlic and flipped the smashed garlic over to brown on the other side, wanting to get as much garlic flavor as I could.) When garlic is golden brown and very aromatic, remove it and discard (it has fulfilled its garlic destiny). Put 3 1/2 dozen clams in the pan and add the wine. Cover the pan a bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and cook until the clams open up, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the clams from the pan and set aside. Pour the cooking liquid into a measuring cup and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat. (Meg note: I usually salt my pasta water, but the cooking liquid was on the salty side so I skipped, figuring it is easier to add the salt in later than take it out.)

Mince remaining smashed garlic cloves. Coat same saute pan again with olive oil and add garlic and another pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring pan to medium-high heat and cook garlic for a minute or two (don’t let it get brown). Add the remaining raw clams and reserved clam cooking liquid to the pan. When adding the liquid, be sure to check for sand and grit in the bottom, you may lose the last couple of tablespoons of juice but that is better than sand in your pasta! (Meg note: even though I followed the directions, next time I might strain the juice through a paper towel lined sieve to make sure all of the sand and grit is out, before adding it back into the pan.) Cover and cook until the clams open.

While clams are cooking, drop the linguine into the salted boiling water and cook until the pasta is very “al dente” – maybe a minute or so less than the box directs.

Remove the cooked clams in their shells from the pan and keep warm. Add the butter and cooked clams that have been removed from their shells back to the pan. Bring the liquid to a boil and toss in the cooked pasta and the herbs. Cook the pasta together with the sauce until the sauce clings to the pasta. Turn off the heat and toss in the grated parmigian-reggiano, if using. Stir vigorously to combine.

Divide the pasta into serving dishes and garnish with clams that are still in their shells and some chopped herbs.