Linguine with clams

Amanda is over from Los Angeles for a week or so and came over for sunday lunch.  I had finally managed to find clams in the newly opened fishmonger on Gloucester Avenue in Primrose Hill (thanks to nicola for the local knowledge!).  I cooked this linguine with clams to start with, followed by the rhubarb jelly and ice-cream.  I actually bought 2 types of clam - razor clams which are currently in season, and palourde.  The picture above is of the razor clams that i cooked separately, and then forgot to take a picture of the linguine.  However, linguine alla vongole is one of my new favourite things, and Nigella's is a great recipe for it, so i'll no doubt be making again soon.  The following serves 1:

- Soak 200g clams in cold water for around 30 mins.
- Cook 150g linguine until its nearly, but not quite, cooked.
- Finely slice 1 clove garlic and gently fry in 2 tablespoons olive oil without letting the garlic burn.
- Add 1/2 dried chilli pepper, finely sliced.
- Drain the clams (discard any that remain open) and add them to the pan.
- Add 80ml white wine or vermouth and cover.
- Cook for 2-3 mins until the clams open, then add the linguine and cook for a further 1-2 mins.
- Discard any clams which haven't opened, and serve sprinkle with parsley.

I used fresh linguine, so i figured that i would just cook the linguine in the pan.  Problem is that the linguine then absorbed a lot of the moisture in the pan, and it turned out a bit too dry, despite me adding more vermouth and water.  Next time, i'll stick with fresh pasta, but plunge it into boiling water for 30 secs, before adding it to the clams.



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