Name: Pantry Linguine in Clam Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 –6
Ingredients: 1 lb linguine; 1/2 tsp kosher salt ((you'll want plenty extra for salting the pasta water)); 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 3 garlic cloves (finely minced); 1/4 tsp crushed pepper flakes ((optional)); 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper ((more for serving)); 1/2 cup dry white wine; 15 oz canned baby clams with juice; 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese; 1/4 cup flat-leaf (Italian) parsley (chopped)

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Pantry Linguine in Clam Sauce may just be the foxiest meal to emerge almost entirely from your pantry. Done in just under twenty minutes, this is a go-to for Date Night when times are busy.

I’m not sure what it is about linguine clam sauce that’s positively foxy. But Pantry Linguine in Clam Sauce has become one of our favorite, quick Date Night dinners.

Now, it’s not as gorgeous as the restaurant linguine with the clams in their shells—that’s about three times as much work. Plus, I have bad memories of the time when that one clam seemed a little bit off…and if you’ve ever gotten a bit of bad shellfish, I know that you KNOW what I mean.

So, my preference is to stick to my pantry and pull out a can of baby clams in their juice. Not as cheffy, I agree. But it’s incredibly simple and lightning fast. In fact, the Romano cheese and parsley (flat leaf, please) are the only ingredients that don’t come from my pantry.

All said and done, this dish takes under 20 minutes to prepare if you make the sauce while the pasta boils. You can see my process in the images below.

Fun fact: you’ll see in one of these images that I have a wooden spoon resting on top of the pot of boiling water. I recently learned that doing this helps prevent boil-over! (It doesn’t actually completely STOP it, but it gives you time to turn the heat down before you have a gigantic mess on your hands.)

Pantry Linguine in Clam Sauce: final notes

The oil

You’ll notice that the sauce starts out with 1/4 cup of olive oil. This is a lot more than I usually use, as I’ve steadily reduced the amount of oil I cook with over the last several years. But keep in mind that olive oil is high in healthy monounsaturated fats, which can help reduce the circulating levels of unhealthy cholesterol. In fact, Mediterranean diets, which, among other things, are high in monounsaturated fats, have been associated with lower cholesterol and improved cardiovascular health (chronicled here in the gory, science-y detail typical of peer-reviewed scientific journals). For more user-friendly information, check out the American Heart Association’s recommendations on monounsaturated fats.

The garlic

I love garlic. The hubster, even more so. So, any amount of garlic that I would normally put into a dish I double for his sake. The amount I give in the recipe is closer to my end of the garlicky spectrum, but if you’re not such a big fan of garlic, reduce the amount you use to 2 or even 1 clove.

Leftovers

Leftover Pantry Linguine in Clam Sauce is fantastic reheated as-is the next day—but it’s SUBLIME in what I like to call a “leftover pasta frittata”. I’ll post the recipe for that one of these days. If you are familiar with frittata-making, it’s just a matter of adding the egg mixture to the noodles after they fry up a bit in the skillet. Leftover leftover pasta frittata is great in sandwiches…I’m getting carried away.

Serving

I love to serve Pantry Linguine in Clam Sauce (with a nice, crisp white wine like a sauvignon blanc) in a romantic setting, dishing up the pasta—with more parsley sprinkled on top—on a pretty platter to make it feel extra-special. But I get it if you want to just make this for a regular old weeknight. It’s an easy, wonderful departure from usual pantry fare. I hope you love it!

—xoxo Michelle

Linkies

I’m linking my Pantry Linguine in Clam Sauce recipe up with:

#CookBlogShare, a great food blogger recipe-share at Recipes Made Easy.
#CookOnceEatTwice, for recipes that are just as good left-over as they are when you made them, hosted by Searching for Spice.
#RecipeOfTheWeek hosted by A Mummy Too.
#BrillBlogPosts, a link party with a variety of lifestyle reads hosted by Honest Mum.

5 from 5 votes

Pantry Linguine in Clam Sauce

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

20 mins

Pantry Linguine in Clam Sauce may just be the foxiest meal to emerge almost entirely from your pantry. Done in just about 20 minutes, this is a go-to for Date Night when times are busy.

Servings: 4 –6

Ingredients

1 lb linguine
1/2 tsp kosher salt (you'll want plenty extra for salting the pasta water)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves finely minced
1/4 tsp crushed pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (more for serving)
1/2 cup dry white wine
15 oz canned baby clams with juice
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup flat-leaf (Italian) parsley chopped

Instructions

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add linguine and cook according to package directions, but 2 minutes less than directed for al dente (the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce).
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over low heat. Add oil, garlic, and black pepper. Cook together until garlic is fragrant—but not brown at all—and has all but melted into the oil, about 8–10 minutes. Raise heat to medium-high and add wine to the skillet; stir to combine. Reduce for 2 minutes. Add clams with their juice and salt. Reduce heat to medium.
Drain pasta and add it to the clam sauce. Toss and coat the pasta in the sauce for 2–3 minutes, until pasta has mostly absorbed the sauce. Remove from heat and add the Romano cheese; toss to incorporate. Add parsley and a few additional grinds of black pepper; toss well and serve with additional parsley, black pepper, and Romano cheese to taste.

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