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Recipe Detail Page
Clams and Cherry Tomatoes with Linguine
Spring 2008
To prepare great pasta one of the key principles is to have a good balance of sauce to pasta. So, if you plan to increase the amount of pasta cooked, you must also increase the amount of sauce.
Serves 4
2 lb (1 kg) fresh, small clams (called Littleneck or pasta clams)
¼ cup (50 mL) olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
5 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp (5 mL) chili flakes
1 pint (550 mL) cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
14 oz (400 g) linguine
2 tbsp (25 mL) fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp (25 mL) fresh basil finely chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt to taste
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil (there should be enough salt in the water that it tastes like seawater).
2. In a large bowl cover clams with very cold, salted water and allow them to purge themselves of any sand for about 10 minutes; repeat this step 3 times, draining away any sandy water.
3. Heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat, add garlic and chili flakes and cook for 3 minutes or until lightly golden. Add tomatoes and cook covered for 10 minutes. Meanwhile add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package instructions. Add drained clams to tomatoes, stir, cover and steam for another 10 minutes or until all the clams have opened. Discard any unopened clams. Stir in parsley, basil and lemon juice, season to taste.
4. Drain pasta well and toss with clam sauce, coating pasta well. Divide onto 4 plates and drizzle each with 1 tsp (5 mL) olive oil.
Serves 4
