Fishy Friday: Pasta with White Clam Sauce

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

I dearly love pasta in all its shapes and forms, and so we eat a lot of it. I always cook more pasta than we need for a specific recipe so that I can use the extra as a side dish tossed with Brown Butter Sage sauce on its own, or with leftover marinara for a quick lunch, or sautéed with butter, green onions, and basil as a side with chicken.

Serving pasta, linguine or spaghetti, with white clam sauce goes back to our early days of marriage when I discovered he liked the same fishy taste I liked!

Here’s what I make every other month or so for Fishy Friday.

Pasta with White Clam Sauce (serves 4)

8 ounces linguine or spaghetti (angel hair cooks really fast)

4 garlic cloves, mined

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons flour

8 ounces bottled clam juice

½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

2 cans chopped clams

½ cup white wine

¾ cup chopped fresh basil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Parsley and Asiago cheese for topping (optional)

Prepare pasta according to directions to al dente. Drain and keep warm until ready to serve.

Saute garlic in 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook for about one minute. Do not brown the garlic, just soften it. Remove from pan.

In the skillet make a roux with the remaining oil and flour. Whisk constantly, for 3-5 minutes until the flour loses its raw smell and is a thick paste.

Immediately add clam juice, red pepper flakes, and garlic, whisking to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 3 minutes.

Add clams, wine, basil, and lemon juice. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add in warm pasta and toss to coat. Serve immediately with parsley and Asiago cheese, if desired. We also have a simple Caesar salad and garlic bread to sop up the juice.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

He always says something like, “Oh, good! Clam sauce!” This dinner is a favorite, not just because it’s delicious, but cooking the pasta takes the longest, so dinner is on the table very quickly.