Linguine with Clams
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Linguine with clams in a garlicky white wine sauce makes an easy and elegant Italian pasta dinner.
Linguine with clams is a classic Italian restaurant dish, and it’s also one of the simplest, most affordable pasta dishes you can make at home. I know cooking shellfish, like clams and mussels, can be intimidating to the uninitiated, but I promise they are the easiest thing in the world to cook — and once you try it, you’ll wonder what took you so long! For this dish, you can do all of the prep and make the clam sauce in the time it takes to boil the pasta, so dinner is done in 30 minutes. To complete the meal, toss a salad, warm some crusty bread, and pour a few glasses of the same white wine used to make the sauce.
Looking for more classic Italian restaurant pasta dishes? Try my penne all vodka, bolognese, and lasagna.
What you’ll need to make Linguine with clams
HOW TO PREPARE THE CLAMS
The recipe calls for Littleneck clams, which are readily available at most supermarkets. They are usually sold in a mesh bag because they are alive and need to breathe. If your fishmonger places them in a plastic bag, remove them from the bag immediately when you get home from the supermarket and place them in a bowl (uncovered) in the refrigerator.
To prepare the clams, first, check that they are alive by making sure all of the shells are tightly closed. If any clams are open, gently tap them against the countertop; if they are alive, they will close their shells. Discard any clams that do not close their shells or that have cracked or chipped shells.
Next, place all of the clams in a bowl and cover them with cool tap water. Let the clams sit for 20 minutes to an hour. During this time, the clams will expel sand from inside their shells. When you’re ready to cook, lift each clam from the water and rinse it, scrubbing if necessary, to get rid of any grit from the surface. (Note that most supermarkets sell farm-raised clams, which are already quite clean, so you may not find a lot of grit or sand.)
How To Make Linguine with Clams
In a large pot over high heat, bring 4 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of kosher salt to a boil. Add the linguine and cook according to package directions until just shy of al dente. (The pasta should still be firm to the bite since it will cook another minute or two in the sauce).
Reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water, drain the linguine in a colander (do not rinse).
Meanwhile, prep all of the ingredients for the sauce.
In a very large sauté pan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté until just golden, about 30 seconds.
Add the wine, red pepper flakes, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 cup of the parsley.
Toss in the clams, then bring to a simmer.
Cook, covered, until the clams open, 6 to 8 minutes. Discard any unopened clams.
Add the drained pasta to the sauté pan with the clams. (If you don’t have room for everything in one pan, transfer the clams to a plate and cover to keep warm. When ready to serve, add them back to the pasta on a serving platter).
Increase the heat to medium and cook the linguine with the clams, tossing occasionally, until the pasta absorbs most of the sauce and is just tender, 1 to 2 minutes. If necessary, add some of reserved cooking water to keep moist.
Remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley; toss to coat.
Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, lemon zest and/or lemon juice, if necessary. Transfer the linguini with clams to a serving dish or bowls and serve.
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Linguine with Clams
Linguine with clams in a garlicky white wine sauce makes an easy and elegant Italian pasta dinner.
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound linguine
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped shallots, from 2 shallots
- 6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc (see note)
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 pounds Littleneck clams (40 to 45), scrubbed
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, from 1 lemon, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, from 1 lemon, plus more to taste
Instructions
- In large pot over high heat, bring 4 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of kosher salt to a boil. Add the linguine and cook according to the package directions until just shy of al dente (the pasta should still be firm to the bite since it will cook another minute or two in the sauce). Drain in a colander (do not rinse), reserving ½ cup of the cooking water for the sauce.
- Meanwhile, in a very large sauté pan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté until just golden, about 30 seconds. Add the wine, red pepper flakes, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, clams, and ¼ cup of the parsley; bring to a simmer and cook, covered, until the clams open, 6 to 8 minutes. Discard any unopened clams.
- Add the pasta to the sauté pan with the clams. (If you don't have room for everything in one pan, transfer the clams to a plate and cover to keep warm. When ready to serve, add them back to the pasta on a serving platter). Increase the heat to medium and cook the linguini with the clams, tossing occasionally, until the pasta absorbs most of the sauce and is just tender, 1 to 2 minutes. If necessary, add some of reserved cooking water to keep moist. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley; toss to coat. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, lemon zest and/or lemon juice, if necessary. Transfer to a serving dish or bowls and serve.
- Note: When cooking with wine, select a bottle that is inexpensive (under $10) but still good enough to drink. Avoid "cooking wines," which are salty and include additives.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 627
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 67 g
- Sugar: 4 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 33 g
- Sodium: 920 mg
- Cholesterol: 61 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Comments
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Hi Jenn! I wanted to make this for my family soon, but there are eleven of us. So I wanted to know how many times should I do it? And also, can we use fresh clams straight off the beach with this recipe? ( my family collected some the other day)
Hi Vivian, You could either make 2 or 2.5 times the recipe. And I believe you should stay away from clams you find on the beach from a food safety standpoint (they could be coming from polluted waters). Hope that helps!
I have made linguini and clams wirh many recipes.This one was the best.I added about 3/4 lb shrimp when most clams were opened. This is my go to recipe from now on.just perfect
Here’s to the crew
Linguine and clams awash a absolute hit with this Crew
My Family made Me make it twice in a week and a half
I kind of stacked it up a bit by adding to Your recipe Jenn
I doubled up on the garlic added a extra of of clams and two cans of minced bar harbor clams and a bottle of clam juice
They absolutely loved it
Thank You for making me the new chef in the house with Your fantastic recipes 🥰
Wow. The best I’ve ever had!!
Hi Jenn and others!
Like many others on this site, I have made NUMEROUS of Jenn’s recipes and each time, they have been a hit. I am planning on making this tomorrow for a group of 6 adults – will the amounts indicated in the recipe truly serve six people? Should I 1.5x the recipe? Thank you!
Hi Emily, this will serve six nicely, but if you’re nervous about it, feel free to make 1.5 times the recipe. Hope everyone enjoys!
Thank you Jenn! I will do that!
Your recipe for Linguine and clams did not disappoint. Everything was easily spelled out with no room for error. I made as written. I appreciated the tip on soaking the clams to eliminate the grit. This was as good as any restaurant entree. I will be making it for friends since I’ve had a practice run through! Coveting the leftovers!
Linguini and clams has been a long time favorite of mine. I tried this recipe, and it beats and exceeds many of the restaurants I have tried. The flavor is outstanding and it uses whole fresh clams, not chopped or canned. Thank you!
ABSOLUTE WINNER! Not only did it look great, it tasted fantastic. I did make some changes by adding a can of diced tomatoes, cutting the olive oil to 3 tablespoons, and eliminated the butter. I did not have any lemon zest (lemon was already zested) but increased the lemon juice to 2 tablespoons to make up for it. It was such a fresh tasting sauce and we didn’t miss the butter at all! One thing I do with pasta is to combine it with my sauce, make sure it’s bubbly, the. Cover and turn off the heat for about 10 minutes. The pasta absorbs the sauce much better this way. It’s definitely in my rotation as we have access to fresh dug steamer clams all month long.
O.K. Made this last night…! My wife and I both thought it turned out great. I used fresh, in the shell, clams and my only regret was that even though I soaked the mussels in cold water for over an hour, they were still a little gritty. (It could be that I didn’t really scrub the shells as I inspected then, I only held them under running water… .)
To me, the key step is to add pasta water after the butter melted at the end (i only used 3/4 cup) and then agitate the pan a lot (a lot, lot). That really creamed up the “sauce”. Also, I took the time to remove almost all of the shells (which took a minute because for the ones that weren’t already separated form the clams, I had to take them out, let them cool a bit to then knock the clam back into the pan).
To be honest, next time, I’m going to look for already shelled fresh clams (if those exist) or use canned… unless I can find a fool proof way totally eliminate the grit.
But, to sum it up… it was a total success. Great recipe and guide…!
Planning on making tomorrow. Got a Kg of fresh clams from the Amsterdam Friday market. …and just to p— off the ~silly gringos who say… “you can’t add cheese to seafood dishes”… Ima finish with copious spoons of parmesan…! …because it’s hella good…!