I’ve been having some serious pasta cravings this week and haven’t had the opportunity to feed the beast until this past Friday night. I finally broke out my super duper special durum flour and made some of my homemade pasta with it. It was life changing. I’m never using the all purpose stuff again… except when I run out of this fancy business of course. Until then, I’m a durum flour addict now. I most certainly need to go into recovery after eating all these leftovers.
I hit up my favorite specialty market in LA for some fresh clams and got to work. This recipe is a little more in depth than your standard linguine and clams, but trust me, the flavors are so very worth it. I made this bad boy for date night and once the food was on the table not a word was spoke until each little noodle had been slurped up. When the table goes silent, you know the grub is delicious.
Serves 4.
Ingredient List:
- 1 box linguine (or make it yourself with This Recipe)
- 1 can chickpeas
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/2 tbsp chopped basil + extra for topping
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- salt + pepper to taste
- parmesan cheese
Kitchen Tools: sauté pan with lid, food processor, stock pot, ladle, tongs, foil
Prep Work:
Scrub clams and rinse in water. Mince garlic and chop herbs. Start salted water boiling in your stock pot. Heat butter or olive oil in sauté pan on medium high heat. Sauté garlic for 3 minutes until fragrant. Carefully add clams and white wine. Cover and let cook on medium for about 5-7 minutes until the clams open up. Discard any that aren’t open after 10 minutes.
Use tongs to remove clams and set aside in a bowl. Cover in aluminum foil and set in warm place. Lower heat in the pan to a high simmer. Place chickpeas and their liquid in food processor. Process until smooth. Add herbs, red pepper, salt + pepper and pulse until incorporated.
Cooking:
Cook pasta according to package directions. (If you made fresh pasta, this will only need to cook for a few minutes). Add processed chickpea sauce to the pan. Squeeze in about 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Raise heat to medium and let reduce for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick.
When pasta is done cooking, use your tongs to place the noodles into the sauce. Ladle in about 1/2 cup of pasta water into the saucepan. Use tongs to stir pasta around in the sauce.
Plating:
Portion out pasta into bowls. Top with clams, grated parmesan and freshly chopped basil. Dig in!
