Today’s recipe is brought to you by the letters L, C, and S, for Linguini and Clam Sauce!
Linguine and Clam Sauce comes from White Jacket Required, a new book written by fellow food blogger Jenna Weber of Eat, Live, Run. I’ve been following ELR, and enjoying Jenna’s delicious recipes and relatable writing style for years and years. It actually helped inspire me to start IGE!
In White Jacket Required, Jenna gives readers a behind the scenes look at her time in culinary and pastry school, navigating life, loss, and love along the way. Like her blog, the book is written in such an intimate tone – it almost feels like she wrote the story from a diary or letters to an old friend.
I found the book so interesting because there was a time in my life when I seriously considered attending pastry school (which never panned out, obviously!) so it was neat to read about a program I’ve always been curious about, and also because the time span covered in the beginning of the book was around the same time I started visiting Jenna’s blog.
While you don’t need to be a reader of Eat, Live, Run (which you should!) to love the book, I thought getting a deeper glimpse into the events I clearly remember reading about years ago was really cool.
Going above and beyond telling a great story, Jenna includes several of the simple, flavorful, feel-good recipes she’s known for at the end of each chapter. One of those recipes, which happens to be the first (of many!) I dog-eared after reading is Linguine and Clam Sauce.
As you can imagine, we don’t have too many clam recipes floating around the Midwest.
Pork? Yes. Beef? YES. Shell fish? Not so much…
And since my previous experience with clams, up until whipping up this easy pasta that is, consisted of wolfing down copious amounts of Progresso clam chowder in college (right,) and a plate or two of seafood pasta on the Amalfi Coast a few years ago, I was a little hesitant to give Linguini and Clam Sauce a go, but Jenna’s mouthwatering description of her favorite comfort food recipe in the world sounded too good to pass up.
Plus the recipe calls for canned clams, instead of fresh. Surely I could deal with that!
Fully expecting to have to hunt around town for these bad boys, I nearly shrieked with joy after finding a full stock of canned Maine Whole Cherrystone Clams sitting next to the canned tuna and salmon at my trusty Trader Joe’s earlier this week. After draining and reserving the juices from 3 cans of 6.5oz clams, the dish came together in just 15 minutes. So. Much. Win.
Start by sauteing 1 large minced shallot in 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil until tender, then add the drained clams and cook for a few minutes.
Next add 1/2 cup reserved clam juice, the juice of 1 lemon, and 1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes.
Let the sauce simmer and reduce for a few minutes, then add in 8oz cooked linguine and toss everything together. That’s it!
Top the hot pasta with a thick blanket of freshly grated parmesan cheese, then twirl, eat, and repeat.
Note from Jenna: Hands down, my favorite dish. Since there’s no need to buy fancy live clams from the seafood counter, you can make this year-round.
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Linguini and Clam Sauce
Description
Linguini and Clam Sauce is so fresh, light, and incredibly simple to make!
Ingredients
- 8oz dried linguine
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 3-6.5 ounce cans clams, drained, with 1/2 cup juice reserved
- Juice of one lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add minced shallot and sauté until very soft and tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add clams and continue to cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add reserved clam juice, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes.
- Toss pasta with sauce, adjusting red pepper flakes to taste. Divide among four plates and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Notes
Reprinted with permission from White Jacket Required: A Culinary Coming-of-Age Story © 2012 by Jenna Weber, Sterling Epicure, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Each briny, chewy bite of this pasta, accented by pops of fresh lemon flavor, and a nice kick of heat from the red chili pepper flakes was absolutely delicious. Who knew enjoying clams at home, even from the Midwest, could be so easy?!
Ashley 10.24.2012
My favorite comfort food is actually a breakfast dish that my grandma makes. It’s basically a white sauce with ham, sausage, eggs and cheese served over toast. It’s so simple yet delicious and homey.
Brianna K 10.24.2012
Dark chocolate truffles are my go-to comfort food :)
Marcia 10.24.2012
Cinnamon Rolls
Becca 10.24.2012
Chicken dumpling soup and fresh bread! Yumm
Brianne W 10.24.2012
chicken alfredo!
Erin 10.24.2012
I know its weird, but whenever I’m sick all I want to eat is cream of mushroom soup with tuna and egg noodles… basically tuna noodle casserole in soup form!
Talia 10.24.2012
Nothing will ever beat paprikash and nukerlach for me. It always reminds me of regular weeknight family dinners, where we talked and played jeopardy and wheel of fortune together.
Samantha 10.24.2012
Got to be macaroni & cheese or mashed potatoes with gravy. Yum
I’ve been reading her blog for awhile too!
Elyse 10.24.2012
Wood fired tomato, basil, and mozzarella pizza. Can’t go wrong with that! What a great looking read, thanks for sharing!
Alberta S 10.24.2012
Homemade apple crisp, my mom’s especially… and it is just as comforting in the morning for breakfast :)
I would love to win this book! I have been eyeing it up as I am a follower of ELR as well as you!
Theresa 10.24.2012
Poached eggs & french toast.
Kara K 10.24.2012
My fav comfort food are good ole’ chocolate chip cookies.
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) 10.24.2012
Homemade lasagna! so much yum!
Amber Lane 10.24.2012
Yum!! Potatoe and leek soup is Definetly one of my favorite comfort foods especially this time of year!!
Marianne 10.24.2012
French onion soup and a glass of red wine.
Leah 10.24.2012
Cheesy bread. Nothing fancy, just good cheese on good bread, with maybe some spinach somewhere.
Becki C. 10.24.2012
My favorite comfort food–a toss up between my mom’s mac and cheese (with hamburger and tons of velveeta!) or tater tot casserole–ha!
And P.S.–sooooo jealous you are close to Trader Joe’s–here in th QCA we have to either go to Chicago or Des Moines…
Beth 10.24.2012
Mashed potatoes! Or really, potatoes in any form :)
Marie 10.24.2012
Macaroni & cheese. LOVE.
Patrice Goecken 10.24.2012
Mac-N-Cheese is soooo good!