Ultimate Spaghetti w/ Clams

Tyler Florence’s “Ultimate” recipes are a favourite at our place.  Everything we’ve made from the cookbook has turned out wonderfully. They tend to have a lot of ingredients, but the preparations are never difficult and the results are always worth it. We never make a recipe once: whatever makes it to the table makes it there repeatedly.

J made this yesterday for his folks and, once again, the recipe delivered. Briny, garlicky, spicy: all the things that spaghetti with clams (or, if you want to impress your dinner guests, linguine vongole) should be.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Kosher salt
40 littleneck clams
extra virgin olive oil
2 tb unsalted butter
10 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 lb pancetta, chopped
1/2 ts red pepper flakes
handful of fresh basil
1/4 c white wine
2 pints cherry tomatoes
black pepper
1 lb spaghetti (or linguine)
1/4 c chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
3. Scrub the clams with a stiff brush under cold water. Discard any that are open.
4. Put a roasting pan over two burners on medium heat. Add a 2-count of olive oil, the butter, garlic, pancetta, red pepper flakes and basil. Cook until the pancetta renders its fat, roughly 4 minutes.
5. Add the clams, white wine, tomatoes and a good amount of black pepper.  Put the pan in the oven and roast til the clams open, around 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the water and cook 7-8 minutes or til al dente.  Drain the pasta, put it in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil.
7. Remove the pan from the oven and add all the ingredients – including the liquid in the pan – to the pasta and toss. Discard any clams that did not open.
8. Add parsley and toss again.

Tags: clams, pasta, Tyler Florence