Made linguine & clams for the first time tonight. In summary: Om nom nom. No pictures, because, uh, we ate it?
To avoid sounding like the unwanted prefatory life story on a cooking blog that makes you yell
just get to the flipping recipe already!!... I compiled a recipe from the following:
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/linguini-with-clams.htmlhttps://www.emerils.com/127752/linguine-clamshttps://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-linguine-with-clams-pasta-254098https://stripedspatula.com/linguine-with-clams/Aside from 1. there was still some grit inside some of the clams (maybe I should have pre-soaked them in multiple changes of water instead of just one), and 2. a bit too much red pepper flakes (I just eyeballed the amount called for, so must have overdone it a tad), overall very successful. I think this is also the first time the thing about adding reserved cooking water back to the pan to get a sauce to come together and stick to the pasta has
actually worked for me. Usually I just wind up with a watery mess (not enough starch in the water, maybe?).
There's not a whole lot to it besides the clams -- olive oil, garlic, white wine, lemon juice, red pepper, finished with butter and parsley (depends a bit on the recipe) -- so the clam liquid itself is a pretty prominent component, and therefore I expect success depends on good clams. Fortunately, these were, fresh and oceany and even a little sweet, rather unlike the steamed mussels I made a few weeks ago where I half questioned whether they were even safe to eat because while they smelled fine raw, they had a rather unappetizing odor when cooked; so when we couldn't even stand to eat them all, I wrote on my dinner ideas sheet, "shellfish that don't suck". (In the event, there was no gastric disturbance, but leaving them overnight in the fridge rather than cooking them the same day as purchased probably hadn't done them any favors.)
anyway, *sips leftver Pinot Grigio and digests*
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