Pasta with Fresh Clam Sauce

Name: Pasta with Fresh Clam Sauce
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 40 , littleneck clams (the smaller the better), or 3 pounds cockles, or 24 littleneck clams and 6 quahogs (the larger the better), all scrubbed thoroughly; 1/2 cup, dry white wine; Pinch, cayenne pepper; 1/4 cup, extra-virgin olive oil; 2 medium cloves, garlic, minced; 1 , large plum tomato or 2 small plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and minced; , Table salt; 1 pound, spaghetti or linguine, or other long-strand pasta; 3/4 cup, chopped fresh parsley leaves

12 comments

Appears in Cook's Illustrated November/December 1997

Start with small littlenecks or cockles, cook them separately, and use the natural clam juices as the basis for a quick sauce.

SERVES4

TIME50 minutes

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

We wanted to find just the right proportions of just the right ingredients for the best clam sauce recipe possible. We used a combination of tender but expensive littlenecks in the pasta and cheaper quahogs for the clam juice we’d need in t...

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