When I first starting attending school, and stopped cooking for a profession, I got a job waiting tables in a cookie cutter Italian American family style restaurant. Granted, this place has been in a "historic" distric of my town, outlasted most establishments 4:1, and employed many a beatnik/outcast/student, but the bottom line is, the food is mediocre at best. That said, as a seafood eating vegetarian, one of the few things I could eat on the menu, I fell in love with. That was linguini in clam sauce. Since then, this dish has become a staple around my house, something I had never made before. Tonight was one of those staple nights.

First, I want to say this entry is as much for my benefit as it is for anyone else, as I have never really taken the time to document, or organize what I really do to make the dish. Second, I have many dishes I like to make with fresh clams, especially since we have such a bountiful supply of little necks, as they are farm raised slightly north of the Tampa Bay area in Cedar Key. This dish, is straight up cans of clam. I use both the chopped and minced cans, equal parts of both. For myself and my muse, with generous amounts of left overs, I use two cans of both; the 6.5 oz variety.

I start out in a dutch oven (I like the higher sides, so when the finished dish simmers, the tomato doesn't splatter over my white porcelain stove top) with ample amounts of olive oil (when i say ample, I mean definitely enough to cover the bottom). To that I add easily 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 3-4 cloves of minced garlic, and approximately half a medium onion, small dice (aren't you glad you started practicing my last post?).

One mention about a pasta dinner at home, versus in a restaurant. Only in the most expensive places, where time and money are not an issue, is the pasta not already cooked. At home, that doesn't really work out. What I do, is have a seperate pot of water on, while I'm cooking, coming to a boil. I keep it covered, and let it boil. When the remainder of the dish is just about ready, THEN I add the pasta to the boiling water, finish the main part of the dish, lower that to a low flame, and finish cooking the pasta, drain, and you don't have to mess with re-heating the pasta or sauce.

Another note, I like my red sauce spicy, sort of a "fra diablo". So the amount of garlic, and crushed red pepper i will give in exact quanities, so you can adjust to your liking. Once the garlic and onion begin to sweat (have you been reading my posts so far?), I open the cans of clam. First, I add the juice from the cans, as to "deglaze" the pan, let that simmer a minute or two, then add the clam meat. While that comes back to a simmer, I open the tomato product. Personally, and I highly suggest this for any tomato sauce, I use a combonation of crushed tomato and "whole, peeled tomato". Again, personally, I use generic brands for all of this, but some will argue that only Italian brand will sufice. That is for your experimentation, and taste. I like spending my money on the main course, and have not found the generic to be a bad product. Once the clams and juice come to a boil, I add the crushed tomato. Then, the JUICE from the peeled tomatoes. Now this is important, in my opinion. I hand crush the peel tomatoes into the sauce. This adds body, but also gives character to the sauce. So yes, in some people's eyes I compromised by using "generic", but I compensated by hand processing the whole tomato.

Let this come to a simmer, and now is the time to throw the pasta into the boiling water. Again, a word about personal choice, this time regarding pasta. At home, I only ever really cook "angel hair", or as some times called "cappelini". Traditionally, linguini is the pasta of choice for this sauce, but that is simply a personal choice for me, and more specifically, my muse. I cook my pasta, my angel hair, to a distinctive 'al dente', or the literal translation, "firm to the bite". Not cruchy, but not mushy either.

Now is when I season the sauce. I add about 1 and a half tablespoons of dried oregano, a quarter of a teaspoon granulated garlic, and a teaspoon of kosher salt. Just before serving, I like to add a couple of table spoons of fresh minced basil ( the anise flavor marries nice with the clam). To that, adjust to your own tastes, whether you want more pepper, by adding fresh ground black and white pepper, cayenne, or salt.

Let that simmer, check your pasta, drain, and put in your bowl/plate, top with sauce, perhaps some fresh shaved paragiano cheese. A small Ceasar salad, or mixed greens, a big glass of Pinot Noir, and you have the perfect meal. Enjoy!