I’m usually a stickler for fresh ingredients, but sometimes the prepackaged stuff is just easier. For my clam sauce, I like to use cans of minced clams. I sometimes eat these directly out of the can as a snack. It’s weird, I know, but I was never really a potato chip kind of guy. My mother always kept junk food in the house for my sisters, but she bought wild rice, minced clams and mac & cheese for me.
Here’s everything you need:
Pasta With Clam Sauce
- 1 pound pasta, cooked according to package directions
- 2 (6.5 oz) cans Doxsee/Snow’s minced clams, stock reserved
- 3/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (oregano, thyme, parsley, etc.)
- Juice from half a lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- chopped herbs, lemon zest and parmesan cheese for garnish
This ingredient list might seem long, but you should already have most of this stuff in your kitchen. Also, if you’re not a big fan of olive oil, then you should cut down the amount in this recipe. I like an oily sauce.
Clams and mussels can get rubbery if they cook too long. That’s why when you order a bucket of steamers, they’re out in just a few minutes. Steamers are usually flavored with a thin, buttery broth. That’s kind of what I was going for here, but to make a sauce that’ll stick to pasta, you need to thicken it up and reduce it. To do that, you cook the sauce and add the minced clams at the last minute. Start off by chopping all of your ingredients.
Warm the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the shallots and crushed red pepper and sauté until the shallots are starting to turn brown, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until nicely browned, but not burnt.
In a bowl, mix the wine, clam stock and flour with a whisk. This is the main flavoring for your sauce. It’ll taste terrible at this stage, but it’ll be sweet and smooth when it cooks down.
Pour the wine mixture into the pot and mix well. Add the herbs and simmer over medium-high heat until it’s reduced by about two-thirds. You want to thicken the sauce and cook off the starchy flour taste. When the sauce coats the back of the spoon a little, add the clams and the lemon juice to the pot. Simmer them for a minute to release their flavor and then add the butter off the heat. Stir until it’s just incorporated so that it stays velvety. Finally, taste and season the sauce with salt and pepper. If you like a thicker sauce, add a little cream and shredded cheese (and put the pan back on the heat). But remember, this isn’t supposed to be a seafood Alfredo.
By this time, your pasta should be about done. Strain the noodles and add them to the pot with the sauce. Make sure all the noodles are coated with the clam sauce or else they’ll stick. Garnish with fresh herbs, freshly grated parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and freshly ground black pepper.
I actually made a full portion of the sauce, but only used half of the pasta. I like a heavy sauce. I used the other half of the noodles to make a basil pesto for the wife. She hates clams.
