Linguine with Clams in 30 Minutes – Restaurant Quality! (VIDEO)

Ingredients for Linguine with Clams

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for the best Linguine with Clams!

• 8 oz linguine pasta – Linguine with Clams is traditionally made with linguine but you can use any long pasta. You can use either fresh or dried pasta; I like bronze die-cut pasta because the surface of the pasta has a rougher texture to allow for more sauce to cling to it.
• 2 lbs. fresh clams – I recommend using fresh clams – I used Littleneck clams.
  • Fresh clams need to breath to stay alive, so purchase them the day you want to use them and keep them uncovered in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook. (Do not need them in an airtight container or plastic bag.)
  • If you don’t have access to fresh clams, you can use canned clams.
  • If using canned clams: instead of steaming the clams, let the sauce reduce and add the clams to the sauce. Cook them through for 1-2 minutes to heat and continue with the recipe as written.
  • If you’re looking for a similar pasta that doesn’t have seafood in it, check out my authentic Cacio e Pepe, Fettuccine Alfredo, or Carbonara recipes!
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter – My favorite butter in the world is Kerrygold unsalted butter. The quality is phenomenal! I like to buy mine from Costco and freeze what I won’t need (butter lasts in the freezer for 5 months).
• 1 bunch fresh Italian parsley stems and leaves separated
• 1 cup white white – I use a dry white wine such as Pinot Grio or Sauvignon Blanc, but you can easily substitute this for chicken stock if you prefer to omit alcohol from this recipe.
  • Do not use a cooking wine! Use a white wine that you would not mind drinking.
• kosher salt
• lemon for garnish

Linguine with Clams: Recipe Instructions

1. Prepare Your Fresh Clams

NOTE: You can skip this step if you are using canned clams.

I used Littleneck Clams – fresh clams from the store must be cleaned before cooking them. Add them to a large bowl of cold salted water and scrub the shells with a soft brush to remove any debris. Let the clams sit in the salt water for 20 minutes; this will filter the clams of any dirt or sand inside the shells, while still keeping their natural juices in tact. Once cleaned, drain the salted water from the bowl of clams and set aside.

Discard any clams that are open or that have cracked or chipped shells. If you knock on a clam and it is alive, it will close its shell.

2. Start the Clam Sauce

In a large pan over medium heat, melt butter and olive oil; sauté the crushed garlic cloves, crushed red pepper flakes and parsley stems for 30 seconds. Let the aromatics infuse in the oil – this will start a delicious base for your Linguine with Clams sauce.

Once you can smell the aromatics in the butter and olive oil, turn the heat to high. Add your cleaned fresh clams, white wine (or chicken stock) and immediately cover – you will steam the clams for 6-8 minutes (or until the clams shells have opened).

• NOTE – if you are using canned clams: instead of steaming the clams, let the sauce reduce and add the clams to the sauce. Cook them through for 1-2 minutes to heat and continue with the recipe as written.

Once the clams are steamed and opened, remove the clams along with the garlic and parsley stems from the sauce. Discard the garlic and parsley stems. Reserve the clams in a separate bowl. The clams have released all their flavor into the sauce and we will add these back in the end!

3. Reducing the Linguine with Clams Sauce

Cook your linguine (or long pasta) until al dente. You will finish cooking the linguine in the clam sauce. Reserve at least 1/2 cup pasta water.

• I purposefully undercook the pasta prior to adding it to the sauce in order to time the sauce reduction and the pasta tenderness. This takes some practice but just account for an additional 1-2 minutes to reduce the sauce – this is how much less I cook the pasta to al dente.

Add the al dente linguine into the sauce, along with 1/2 cup of pasta water. We’ll need the starch from the pasta water to help thicken this sauce. Continue reducing the sauce until half – the more reduced the sauce, the more reinforced the clam flavor will be.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and continue cooking over high heat until the sauce has reduced and the pasta is cooked to your liking.

Once the sauce has thickened to your liking (see the video for reference), add back the reserved clams and fresh parsley to the pasta; give it a final toss! If desired, garnish with lemon and more parsley and enjoy!