Angel Hair Pasta With White Clam Sauce
"This one is a family tradition. I practically grew up on it. My father, grandmother, and several great-aunts made their own variations of it. Regardless of the variation, it was always delicious. This is my own variation on the recipe, originally learned from my father. It goes great with an appetizer of Traditional Caprese Salad, a side of a fresh garden salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing, and with a dessert of Italian Orange Slices. This makes for a hearty Italian dinner, that is also health conscious - though I highly recommend a walk afterwords to kick-start the metabolism and burn the carbs. (All referenced recipes/appetizers/desserts can be found in my public recipes list.)
Note: as various brands of angel hair pasta recommend different cooking times, you may want to adjust when you put the pasta in to cook. Typically, dried angel hair pasta is cooked to "al dente" (tender, but firm) within 3-5 minutes."
- Ready In:
- 12mins
- Ingredients:
- 6
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 1 lb angel hair pasta
- 1 (6 1/2 ounce) can clams, chopped
- fresh basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley
- 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
directions
- Combine all fresh herbs on a cutting board, and mince. You will need a very sharp knife to do this right.
- Fill a large pot with water, and add salt to taste. Bring to a boil.
- In a medium saucepan, add oil, and heat over medium heat until oil is hot.
- Drain the canned clams.
- Add clams and minced garlic to oil, and saute until clams are hot (about two minutes), stirring frequently.
- While clam and garlic mixture is heating, put the angel hair pasta in the boiling water. Cook according to the directions on the box.
- Continue stirring the clam and garlic mixture, being careful to not let the garlic burn.
- Add chopped herbs to the clam/garlic mixture, and saute for another two minutes. Remove from heat.
- When pasta is done to "al dente", remove from heat and drain water.
- Put pasta into a large bowl, and add clam/garlic/herb mixture. Mix well to prevent the pasta from sticking. Serve immediately.
- Optionally, you can add sliced or chopped fresh onion to the sauce. Also, you can substitute (or add in addition to) shrimp, chicken, scallops, crab meat, oysters, squid, etc, for the clams. It can also be topped with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, though traditionally, it is not.
- This sauce is highly flexible, and can be modified in any number of ways. I always recommend using angel hair pasta though, as it soaks up the flavors better than any other type of pasta.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I grew up in an Italian household. My father is a graduate of the Culinary Institute, and my extended family is full of incredible cooks, all of whom know old world Italian cuisine as well as any four-star chef. I learned my way around a kitchen from all of these incredibly talented people. Even though I've never been to culinary school myself, almost all of those that I've cooked for consider me one of their favorite chefs.
Ever since I was a child, cooking has been a passion of mine. I started off with simple things like omelets and tuna salad, and over the years graduated into far more complex and complicated recipes such as various marinades, brines, homemade sauces, sautees, and meals full of subtle and varied flavors, both strong and delicate.
I also love to create new dishes in the kitchen, the successes of which will be posted here. I'll also be posting a few of the old world Italian recipes I make on occasion.
Since my love of food has made my weight rather unhealthy, I've been focusing more on healthy dishes lately, and have been learning various Asian cuisines, as well as relearning cuisines I previously had developed my skills in, in order to eat far healthier, but still enjoy good food.
The cuisines that I've developed my skills with are as follows:
* Mediterranean/Italian/Greek
* Cajun
* Maryland
* General American (steaks/burgers/fried stuff/etc.)
* Tex-Mex
Cuisines that I'm still developing, but have mastered a few dishes, are as follows:
* English/Scottish/Irish
* Various Asian cuisines (Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese)
* Caribbean
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