Linguini and Clams

This dish is one of my favorites but it's kind of rich with the butter and all so I don’t make it very often. I also like a bit of kick to my food so I add crushed red peppers which you can omit if you are not the spicy type. Here is a photo of the list of ingredients minus the fresh clams since I ate them before writing this up. I used 12 littleneck clams for 2 people and one can of whole clams with the juice. The photo shows minced and you can use that too. The canned whole clams were eaten too before I wrote this so I threw the can out.  Hey, you still get the idea.  Damn! People can be so fussy.  Good thing I'm a Kitchen Bitch.

(I need to blog before I cook I guess cuz I keep eating and tossing everything I need in the photos)

Naturally you need linguini so I didn’t think I had to take a picture of that for you just like I’m not going to take a picture of me burping after this great meal!

First heat up your skillet till its pretty hot add about 1 Tbsp of the canola or olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter. Immediately toss in the minced garlic. I love garlic so I use about 2 large cloves minced. Once the garlic fragrance hits your nose pour in the clam juice and about a 1/3 cup of vermouth and let it all simmer till it is reduced by half. Toss in the canned clams and juice and then the real clams if you have them and cover and steam until the clams open, then cook uncovered for another couple minutes.

In the meanwhile I hope you had the sense to cook your linguini already because you need it now. Add the drained cooked linguini to the clammages in the skillet and heat through till most of the liquid is cooked down and absorbed.  There should be some liquid in it though so don't boil it all away. You also should have put a lot of salt in the boiling water for the linguini so you shouldn’t need to add any extra salt in the end. If you want to tart it up add a couple squeezes of lemon juice instead.

In the bowl I plan on using for the linguini I usually add more fresh minced garlic (b/c I love it so much) on the bottom then I add the hot pasta, toss and decorate it all nicely with the fresh clams and add some minced parsley to beautify it before serving. The parsley also keeps garlic breath at a standstill in case you have a hot date.

I know its crazy but I like to put some parmesan cheese on top of my linguini and clams too. I eat the way I like! However, now that I ate so much it's affecting the way my clothes are fitting (or not fitting) so I'm going to sing that old tune "...its diet time again, I'm gonna lose you.."  fooey.  I wish I didn't care so much about fitting into my clothes!!  Goodbye ice cream after dinner.  So long my little cookie friends.  I'm already missing my melted cheeses...   waa.