Easy Linguine & Clam Sauce

By Foodiewife

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup Italian parsley, loosely packed
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (I omitted)
• 2 - 6 1/2 ounces can of minced clams in clam juice * I used 3 cans of chopped, not minced clams. I drained one can and used the juice from the remaining two. I wanted bigger chunks of clams.
• 1 pound linguine
• 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
• 8 lemon wedges (optional)

Details

Adapted from thecuttingedgeofordinary.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

While you prepare the clam sauce, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and boil until al dente.

Heat a large saucepan over medium high heat for 30 seconds. Add the olive oil and heat for 1 minute. Add the garlic, parsley and red pepper. Saute until the garlic just starts to turn brown. Don't burn it or the garlic will taste bitter. Add the clams with the juice from the cans. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off heat, cover and set aside.

Drain the pasta and give it two good shakes. It's not necessary to drain all of the pasta water completely. Place the pasta in the pan with the clam sauce. Add the lemon juice and toss to combine. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

I steamed some fresh local steamers to top off my dish. Delicious and they look pretty too!