Linguine with Creamy White Clam Sauce
Serves 2
Many years ago, Olive Garden served a pasta, Loraine remembers it as Linguine, with a creamy white clam sauce. At the time it was one of Loraine's favorite meals. We have been trying to find a linguine with white clam sauce recipe for a long time.
What's the problem, you may ask, as there are hundreds of recipes for linguine with white clam sauce on the Internet and that is true. However, very few of them use cream and that is what Loraine remembers from the Olive Garden. Recently we came across a Chef John recipe for spaghetti with a creamy white clam sauce. The difference between spaghetti and linguine is frivolous so we thought we would give it a try. Please bear in mind that we are fans of Chef John and have adapted a lot of his recipes to suit our tastes.
A few days ago we made the recipe and were very disappointed; tasting it before serving. It was very bland and if we had stopped to actually study the ingredient list we would have recognized that quite quickly. So while it was still a work in progress we added some additional seasoning, chives and increased the amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
With these additions the taste was okay, definitely not the best pasta dish we have ever had. We will try it again and add the seasoning earlier in the cooking process, maybe adding some additional spices, we'll see and if and when we do we will update the recipe accordingly.
Ingredients
- 8 oz. dry linguine noodles
- 1 cup 35% heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup jarred baby clams with juice
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 anchovy fillet
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp. chives, chopped
Directions
- Cook linguine pre package instructions, less 2 minutes, drain and set aside.
- Combine the cream, clams and juice, garlic, and anchovy in a large pot over medium heat; bring to a simmer and remove from heat. Add red pepper flakes and stir.
- Beat the egg yolk in a small bowl. Add one spoonful hot cream mixture to egg and stir. Repeat twice. Pour egg yolk mixture into cream mixture and mix.
- Add the Italian seasoning and mix.
- Add the cooked linguine to the cream mixture; stir to coat the pasta, cover the pot, and let sit until flavors combine and pasta soaks up some of the sauce, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle a 1/4 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over the top mix and season with salt if necessary.
- Place the pasta and clams into bowls and sprinkle with remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano and the chives.