Spaghetti with Clams

    Arnauld and I gave up meat for lent.  Arnauld is actually the one who suggested it, which surprised me greatly!  He is a meat eater.  He is careful to have enough protein at every meal.  I was very excited about his idea because I really only ate meat every once in a while and only cooked it for him.  I have to admit, I have had a bit of anxiety this week thinking about adding new dishes to my rotation but I am excited to have this challenge to force us to try new things.  Tonight Arnauld requested spaghetti with clam sauce, something we had made probably a few years ago at this point. The recipe comes from a Giada book.

Spaghetti with Clams

Ingredients
Salt
1 pound of spaghetti
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 pounds Manita clams, scrubbed clean
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Zest of 1 Lemon

Method
1. Bring salted water to a boil and add spaghetti.  Cook until desired tenderness.
2. While the spaghetti is cooking, heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat.  When is begins to smoke, add the shallots and cook for about 3 minutes.
3.Add the garlic and cook until they are golden brown and the shallots are translucent, about 3 more minutes.
4. Add the clams, wine, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of parsley.  Cover the pan and simmer for 6 minutes or until all of the clams have opened.  Whisk in the butter to thicken the sauce.
5. Drain the spaghetti, reserve about 1/3 cup of the liquid.  Combine the spaghetti and clam mixture.  Add reserved water to moisten if needed.
6. Serve with a sprinkle of lemon zest and parsley to garnish.

The Taste Test
Arnauld wanted me to be sure to include in this blog post that this is not a clam sauce, it is pasta with clams.  It is a much lighter recipe than traditional pasta with clam sauce.  Once everything was chopped, this was a very simple recipe to execute and smelled delicious as it cooked.  The final results were light, fresh, and flavorful.