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Spaghetti with Clam Sauce

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Makes 4 servings 1x

Time 40 minutes

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • 3 dozen littleneck or other small hard-shell clams, scrubbed
  • 1/4 pound pancetta, diced (optional)
  • 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2 or 3 anchovy fillets, minced
  • 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 pound spaghetti or linguine (fresh is nice, dried is also perfect)
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • Zest of one lemon
  • Freshly grated parmesan for garnish, optional

Instructions

  1. Put about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the clams and a splash of water (about 3/4 cup). Cover and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until all the clams are open, 7 to 10 minutes. Discard any clams that don’t open. When they’re cool enough to handle, remove the clams and discard the shells. Roughly chop half of the clams and leave the rest whole. Put them all together in a container and set them aside. Pour the clam cooking liquid out of the pan into a bowl or measuring cup, making sure not to include any sand that may have accumulated in the bottom of the pan. Set the liquid aside and rinse out the pan.
  2. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, put a few glugs of olive oil in the pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the pancetta if you’re using it, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it has rendered its fat and is starting to get crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel with a slotted spoon. Add the garlic, anchovies, and chile flakes and cook, stirring often, until the garlic turns light golden, a minute or two.
  3. Add the wine and let it bubble away for a minute, then add the reserved clam cooking liquid and reduce the heat as low as it will go (you just want to keep it warm while the pasta cooks).
  4. Cook the pasta until it’s starting to get tender but is still quite al dente. Drain it, reserving 2 cups of the cooking water. Turn the heat underneath the sauce to medium-high, then add the pasta to the sauce along with the clams, the pancetta, if you’re using it, the butter, and a splash of the pasta cooking water (start with 3/4 cup). Cook, stirring constantly, until the pasta is just tender, a minute or two, and the sauce has thickened a bit. If things don’t look saucy enough for you, add a little more pasta water.
  5. Stir in the parsley and lemon zest, and serve immediately, garnished, if you like, with some parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

— Recipe by Daniel Meyer