While you’ve likely ordered linguine with clam sauce at a restaurant, there’s a good chance you haven’t made it at home — and that’s where you’re missing out. Done right, this classic Italian dish is lighter, fresher, and more flavorful than anything that’s been sitting under a heat lamp. And despite its elegant reputation, it’s surprisingly simple to pull off in your own kitchen.
This version from The Blue Food Cookbook by Andrew Zimmern and Barton Seaver leans into the essentials: garlic, olive oil, white wine, and fresh clams. It's delicious, yes, but just as important, it's good for the ocean, too.
As our friend and SeaLegacy co-founder Cristina Mittermeier writes in this must-read essay about making more sustainable choices with your seafood, what you consume from the ocean has a much bigger impact than you probably realize. Cristina is a huge fan of The Blue Food Cookbook: "What I love about this book is how it meets you where you are and shows you how to make better choices in a realistic, flexible, and even fun way," she says.
This delectable linguine is the first recipe Cristina tried from the book, and she says it's a total home run. The result is a dish that’s light and deeply flavorful — the kind of meal that works just as well for a weeknight dinner as it does for a laid-back dinner party.
Andrew Zimmern's Linguine with Clam Sauce
Serves 2 to 4
Ingredients:
- Salt
- 8 ounces dried linguine
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil, a grassy green oil if you have one, plus more for finishing
- 5 medium shallots, thinly sliced (about 1 scant cup)*
- 10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon red chile flakes
- 5 to 6 oregano sprigs, tied together
- ½ cup white wine
- 24 littleneck clams**
- ¼ cup minced parsley
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon (2 to 3 tablespoons juice)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Crusty bread
*Shallots range in size, shape, and color, from the round, yellowish French shallot to the rust-hued long bullet echalion or banana shallot and the purplish Jersey shallot most commonly found in American supermarkets. More nuanced and delicate in flavor than their related onions, Zimmern uses these alliums with abandon. Throughout the book, the authors list both count and amount, assuming medium Jersey shallots yield about 3 tablespoons of dice each. For this recipe, in particular, more is better!
**Clams must be cleaned well before using. Zimmern scrubs them using a brush under running water and go a step further by purging them in salt water for 30 minutes, then lifts them out of the water, leaving any grit in the bottom of the bowl. Do not pour through a strainer, or the grit will find its way back to the clams. Purge the clams just before cooking them; don’t leave them in the salted water for more than 30 minutes.
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the linguine, and cook to al dente according to the package instructions. Drain and reserve.
- Heat the oil in a large, wide pan with 3-inch sides and a lid over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, bay leaves, chile flakes, and oregano and cook for 4 minutes, or until the shallots are wilted and translucent. Add the wine, bring to a boil, and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Remove the oregano bouquet and the bay leaves, and discard them.
- Add the clams, cover, and cook for 5 to 6 minutes until they open, shaking the pan occasionally. When all the clams have opened, remove the clams and reserve them in a bowl. Discard any shells that didn’t open. Add the parsley and lemon zest to the pan. Add the pasta to the pan, stirring and cooking the pasta in the sauce. Season with salt as needed (you won’t need much, if any) and pepper. Add the lemon juice and toss well.
- Divide the pasta into bowls and top with the reserved clams, the sauce left in the pan, and a drizzle of fresh oil. Serve immediately with crusty bread.
Recipe reprinted with permission from The Blue Food Cookbook from HarperCollins Publishers.
