Happy New Year!!! *burp* *shits pants*
I had a very chill New Year’s Eve making linguine and clams for a few select (read: available) friends. Basically, I made a free-styled version of this no-shell linguine and clams recipe I wrote and tested for The Kitchn a while back. I’m a huge advocate for shell-less linguine and clams, and instead like to utilize the canned stuff when I want to make a mean vongole. Really, whom among us actually likes picking shells from their pasta? Not me. Let me slurp and sweat clammy linguine noodles in peace and quiet, alright????
However, while I love canned clams, I actually decided to grab some fresh manilla clams from McCall’s in Los Feliz. It was New Year’s Eve, after all, and I wanted my friends to have something special. McCall’s is awfully expensive and thus not my go-to butcher shop, but $9.99 for a pound of clams isn’t too bad. I took the last 4 pounds and gave everybody double birds on the way out. Suck on that, Chris Pine!!! (I saw Chris Pine once at McCall’s).
Here’s a move: If you’re making linguine and clams with fresh clams, still use a few rounds of the canned stuff to beef up the pasta dish. Just about every linguine and clams I encounter could stand to use more clams. Trust me, nobody will complain when you add more. I love this Cape May brand, but also Snow’s works in a pinch, too. Always chopped, never minced. There’s simply no texture to minced clams.
I love a brothy, glossy, clam juice-forward linguine and clams that’s thickened with butter and reduced white wine. It’s a dish I’ve made hundreds of times, so I implore you to use the recipe which I’ll link again below. Quick anecdote: The first chef I ever worked for, Paul Longobardi, years after we had worked together, he randomly bumped into my brother Anthony and said, “Hey, how’s your brother doing? Man, that guy loves linguine and clams.” Half a decade later, and my most memorable characteristic to this man was that I love linguine and clams. He must have remembered me getting absolutely freak nasty with a bowl of the stuff.
Anyway, here’s the recipe over at the The Kitchn. As I check the comments for the first time, it’s getting good reviews! It even looks like somebody paired their clam sauce with orecchiette. Damn, sounds good. An even amount of clams and pasta in each bite. There’s nothing orecchiette can’t do, man.
Alright, now on to what you need to order at Surawon Tofu House, which is an excellent tofu house in Koreatown here in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the rest of this post is paid, so if you want the deets please upgrade!
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Move to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.