Feast of the Seven Fishes #7: Linguine Vongole

Over the summer, I started having a craving for linguine with clams. Once I’d made this meal for dinner and seen how easy it was, it became a staple meal for us. The cockles can be expensive, but the rest of the ingredients are so cheap that it evens out. Jonathan and I used to eat our bowls of linguine and clams out on the fire escape with a cold glass of white wine. It’s truly the perfect summer meal.

Over the winter, I’ve played with the recipe and sometimes add a few ingredients to make a heartier meal. You can add sausage, white beans, or bacon to your clam and onion stew to make this a robust winter pasta dish. I’ve also occasionally added spinach and cherry tomatoes to the clam stew. You can use whatever you like, but the basic recipe is fantastic on its own as well.

We hope you enjoyed our Feast of the 7 Fishes recipes and that you’ll try at least one on your own at home! Merry Christmas everyone!

Ingredients
(Serves 4-6)

2 lbs clams of your choosing (we used peconic bay and cockles)
Olive oil
Butter
2 yellow onions, diced
4 cloves of garlic, zested
1 cup white wine
1 small bunch of thyme
1 small bunch of parsley
1 small bunch of chives, minced
2 bay leaves
1 box linguine

What to do:

1. Set a pot of water to boil for the linguine. In the meantime, clean the clams thoroughly under cold running water – don’t let the clams sit in the water, or they will drown.
2. Mince the onions and shallots. Zest the garlic. In a large pan, heat the butter and oil over medium low heat. Add the shallots and onion and sweat slowly until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute longer.
3. Start cooking the linguine.
4. Raise the heat to high and add the clams and herbs. When pan is sizzling hot, deglaze with the white wine and cook until clams have opened, 3-4 minutes.
5. When pasta is cooked, use a pair of tongs or a slotted pronged spoon to transfer the pasta directly into the clam pan. Combine the clams, onions and herbs into the pasta and add more butter, salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot!

© 2012 Jonathan Meter

Tagged as: cheap dinners, cherry tomatoes, Christmas traditions, clams, cockles, Feast of the 7 Fishes, fire escape, Linguine vongole, Merry Christmas, sausage, Spinach, summer meal, thrifty meals, white beans, white wine