When I was growing up, the only pasta dishes my mom ever fixed were spaghetti or macaroni and cheese. She would sometimes make buttered noodles to go with a pork roast or put elbow macaroni in a pot of vegetable beef soup, but that was it!
The pasta dishes you find on a menu at Italian restaurants were unheard of at our house. There was no lasagna, fettuccini or tortellini, and I can’t even remember seeing these different types of pastas at grocery stores when I went shopping with my mom.
Even when she made spaghetti, it was never with ground beef. She always cut up small pieces of bacon and browned it, then mixed it into the pot of spaghetti noodles with a can of tomato soup and some chopped and browned onions. I was well out of high school before I ate spaghetti with ground beef and spaghetti sauce.
Today we have such a variety of ways to make pasta dishes, just like the ones you find at your favorite Italian restaurant. During the Lenten season, seafood pastas are a great alternative to the Friday fish fries and tuna salad sandwiches.
This “Clam Linguini” can be fixed quickly, yet is quite tasty. If I fix this for an evening meal, I often make fried clams or shrimp to go with it, and then serve it all with a salad. It also makes a great lunch served with garlic toast. Either way, my mom didn’t know what she was missing back then!
CLAM LINGUINI
8 ounces linguini pasta
1 (10-ounce) can of chopped or minced clams, liquid reserved
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
Cook pasta according to directions.
In medium skillet or saucepan, add olive oil and butter and then saute garlic over low heat for 1 minute.
Stir in liquid from clams, white wine and thyme leaves. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add clams and 1/3 cup of Parmesan and heat till warm.
Toss linguini with clam sauce. Season to taste. Garnish with remainder of Parmesan cheese and parsley and serve warm. Serves 4.
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