According to my father, this was one of Nònno Tucci's favorite sauces to make. "He preferred to open the clams himself," recalls Stan. "He would collect the juice and remove the clam meat, making certain to collect all the juice. In the summer when we had large outdoor parties, we often served a bushel of raw clams on ice. Any remaining clams were prepared following my father's methods and frozen. They defrost quickly, providing a meal in the time it takes to cook the pasta."
If your fish market will open the clams and reserve the juice, it will save a lot of preparation time. If not, wash the clamshells thoroughly. Open the clams over a large bowl to catch the juices. Remove clams, discarding the dark sac, and set aside. Strain the juice through a fine-mesh sieve to remove sand and shells. Add the clams to the strained juice. Begin to prepare the sauce when the pasta is halfway cooked.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Preparation
Step 1
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta, following the package instructions, until al dente.
Step 2
2. Meanwhile, warm 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a high-sided saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and allow it to cook away slightly, about 1 minute. Add the clams and their juice, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the broth froths to a level of 1 to 2 inches. Remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley. Drain the pasta and toss in a serving bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Distribute evenly among six dinner plates. Top with equal portions of the sauce, and serve immediately.
WINE PAIRING: Light white and full white
VARIATIONS: The same dish may be prepared without removing the clams from their shells, making for a less formal, hands-on meal. Warm the olive oil in a pot large enough to hold the clams in a single layer. Add the garlic and cook until softened but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and allow to simmer and sweeten, about 2 minutes. Add the clams and parsley, and cover the pot. Cook until the clams open, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and spoon over cooked pasta. Be sure to discard any unopened clams.
Leave a Review
Reviews (20)
Back to TopWhat a terrific recipe. Easy to follow and delicious I make it often
Mary Kay
Rockland County, NY
7/21/2023
Geekest1 - You are right, chowder clams are usually quahogs which are way to big and tough to be used here. Top necks or littlenecks are best, the smaller the better.
tputn
Massachusetts
6/10/2021
NCM209: You are obviously not a cook. Steamer clams (soft shells) are served steamed in shell or deep fried out of shell. Hard shell clams usually large quahogs are used for chowder. Smaller hardshells, top necks, littlenecks would be used for this recipe. Cherry stones are a bit larger, and often eaten raw. They are also hard shell. Soft shell steamed clams have an inedible black sheath around their ‘necks’ that must be removed. They would not work for this recipe.
tputn
Massachusetts
6/10/2021
Geek, in NE most people use steamer or soft shell clams for chowder and they'd work well here.
ncm209
southofboston
6/9/2021
I think there may be an error in this recipe. It says 18 littleneck or chowder clams. There is a very significant size difference. Chowder clams are large, very large. If chowder clams are used as described I don't think the results would be 'presentable'. While they are certainly edible chowder clams are intended to be chopped and used in chowder. If using little neck clams you will find the recipe delicious.
geekest1
Long Island NY
6/9/2021
This is my favorite quick dinner that can be easily prepared in the time it takes to boil the pasta water and cook the linguini. It’s my idea of a TV dinner. Here are a few things that I do to tweak the recipe to make it an easy impromptu dinner. First, I always keep frozen clams in the freezer (US sourced!!) that I pull out in the morning to defrost. Second, I always add bottled clam broth, as I like my linguini to swim in the sauce. If you forgot to defrost the frozen clams, you can quickly defrost them in the clam broth. Third, I will cut up a plum tomato or two and cook it into the broth a bit, which adds a little flavor and color. And last, don’t skimp on the parsley. Oh, and I use red pepper flakes instead of black pepper.
Jacousinsbci
New Jersey
6/9/2021
This was excellent. We used clams in the shells so needed a little extra broth to get them to open, I added extra white wine and some of the pasta water (which was a little salty so may have been a mistake lol) but otherwise really good. The house smelled like garlic for a few days though!
catherine31
NY
5/25/2021
Superb. I haven't done it yet, but I think this as a first course to a grilled steak dinner would be a show stopper. I made it a little 'wetter' by adding a bottle of clam juice and upped the clam ante by getting 8 oz of minced clams at the fish market where I bought the littlenecks. (Sometimes bottled clam juice is salted so beware before you add more salt.) Don't skimp on the parsley it adds texture. (You can cheat your way to a very good facsimile of this by simmering 1 can of Cento white clam sauce (in the italian food aisle), a quarter cup of white wine with the little necks. Cento has plenty of salt so don't add a sprinkle more!)
lorig13
NJ
5/8/2020
My friend has made this for me several times and I wanted to try it myself. My husband (who never eats clams) really loved it. When using fresh clams (as I did), you can skip the salt. So easy! I also used fresh ramen which takes 45 seconds to cook so I made the clams first and when they were ready, threw the ramen in the boiling water and then using tongs transferred them to the pan with the clams, mixed it all up and served. Need to remember some crusty bread for the delicious juices.
miata_nina8744
Weymouth, MA
4/10/2020
This is nearly the same recipe my husband has been making for years. He was a commmercial bayman for over 25 years and we were very spoiled as far as having all the fresh clams we could ever want! The only difference I see is the omission of one step. He always clarified the broth. Save every drop because it is liquid gold and it freezes perfectly if you have any leftover. To do this you put your clam juice in a pot and bring to a slow simmer. Watch it carefully- it boils over very easily. It will form a foam and skin on the broth and you must strain or scoop that off. You will be left with a beautiful delicious pale milky broth that is clean and almost opalescent. If you do this you will have a lovely sauce that isn’t grayish from the impurities.
Anonymous
Long Island NY
8/3/2019
Huge hit and so easy! I used a little clam juice to amp it up...
nyobserver
Sag Harbor NY
7/19/2019
I just made this recipe tonight but I altered it a bit. I used 9 cloves of garlic, added fresh chopped basil, and tossed the pasta in the sauce with parmesian. It was delightfully light and delicious!!! I will definitely be making this again!!!
pazzel
Richland, WA
7/23/2016
Yummo Recipe I made it and added a little bit of cayenne pepper and minced garlic ..and of course Parmasan Cheese it was Delish
zerimar_sandra
Puerto Rico
4/24/2016
I've made this dish several times; very easy to prepare and it's a tasty success every time. I half the amount of butter to reduce the calorie count. A little extra white wine is a good addition along with shaved parmesan garnish. From time to time, I've made this with canned clams, obviously not as fresh tasting but totally passable for a quick dinner preparation.
julieannperlmutter
Burlington, VT
1/22/2016
Very Simple to make and very delicious! I used the alternate method of cooking the clams in shells. The recipe calls for no cheese, but i sprinkled a little shaved parmesan. Very good!
Sidenator
Seattle WA
3/29/2014
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