Linguine with Red Clam Sauce

My kids love fresh clams so I picked some up from the grocery store and decided to make linguine with clams. I wanted to make the dinner light and healthy so I made a spicy red sauce instead of a butter sauce. It was a very simple recipe to make and tasted fantastic. The sauce wasn't too spicy for the kids and they gobbled it up. The leftovers the next day were delicious and very flavorful too.

Linguine with Red Clam Sauce:

Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net

• 4 oz of pancetta, chopped
• 1-2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 3-4 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 28 oz can of whole or crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (divided)
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (divided)
• 10 oz linguine, cooked per instructions
• 1 lb fresh clams, cleaned

Cook the pancetta in a Dutch oven over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until browned, remove from the Dutch oven to a paper towel. If there isn't enough oil in the Dutch oven from the pancetta, add olive oil. Add the onion and cook stirring frequently, until soft and tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add the seasonings and minced garlic, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes or the juice from the whole tomatoes. Place the immersion blender into the can and crush the whole tomatoes before adding them to the Dutch oven. Add half the basil and parsley then stir. Taste and re-season if needed. If you like a sweeter sauce, add a bit of white sugar, to taste. Let the sauce simmer covered for 30 minutes.

Go through your fresh clams, if any of them are open, tap them lightly on the counter and if they don't close shut, the clams are dead - DON'T EAT THEM. Scrub the clams lightly in cold water. Keep the clams in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cook the pasta per instructions. While the pasta is cooking, add the fresh clams to the sauce by the handful and simmer for 4-6 minutes (don't dump the bowl of clams into the sauce because there could be sand in the bottom of the bowl). If there are any clams that did not open, throw them out. Toss the cooked linguine with the sauce and clams until evenly coated. Top with the remaining basil and parsley and serve. Enjoy.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe - For the Love of Cooking.net