Clam Linguini
LEMON AND WINE STEAMED CLAM LINGUINI WITH PICCATA CAPER SAUCE
Ever since I moved to Ohio, I noticed how much people eat clams and mussels here. In Louisiana, it’s always crab and shrimp. Which actually, I don’t really like, unless it’s fried.
But clams are a way of life up here, especially in our Little Italy of Cleveland. Clams and butter are just it.
A good white wine is key. My go to is Oyster Bay, at a reasonable price and it’s always crisp.
Of course, the most important ingredient of this dish is the seafood. It has to be quality, fresh seafood. Heinens’ seafood department is unmatched here in Cleveland, and when I visited last, their clams were live and fresh on ice. It was a no-brainer.
The twist here is a piccata finishing sauce. I add it to the wine lemon broth the clams steam in, and it thickens it just right with garlic and lemon.
LEMON AND WINE STEAMED CLAM LINGUINI WITH PICCATA CAPER SAUCE RECIPE
Steamed Clams Ingredients
2 pounds or 50 ct sack middle-neck clams, rinsed and scrubbed
1/4 cup butter
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon garlic minced
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
1 /2 lemon, squeezed
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons capers
Steamed Clams Instructions
First, set a large pot of water to boil for the linguini noodles.
Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the butter and melt it.
Add the onion, garlic and chili flakes and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Add the white wine and bring to a simmer; do not boil.
At this point you want to put the noodles to boil while the clams steam, so that everything times perfectly. You will probably need to boil the noodles a little longer than 9 minutes, but that just gives you a bit of time to remove the clams to discard half the broth.
Place the clams in the pot, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pot, then simmer for 7-9 minutes or until clams have opened. Discard any clams that are still shut.
Stir in the lemon juice, parsley and capers.
Piccata Linguini Sauce Ingredients
1/2 cup piccata finishing sauce
packet of linguini to boil
chopped parsley to garnish
2 roma tomatoes, chopped roughly
4 lemon wedges for garnish
Piccata Linguini Sauce Instructions
After you’ve drained the boiled linguini, add a little olive oil so that the noodles don’t stick together.
Since you should have removed the opened clams from the sauce by this point as well, discard half the juice because there is a lot and it will be too thin. Careful not to discard too much of the onion and capers. You will want those for the sauce!
Add in the piccata finishing sauce to the wine broth, and blend well until smooth.
Fold in the cooked linguini to the skillet with the sauce, and mix well.
Add in the plate or bowl of clams that were set aside back in to the pasta skillet.
Give it a few tosses with tongs, and then can garnish in the large skillet for the table, or garnish in your individual serving bowls with the tomatoes, lemon wedges and parsley.
