The Art of Making Linguini and Clams: A Step-by-Step Guide

Linguini and clams is one of my all-time favorite dishes, and it's not just because of its simplicity. This classic Italian recipe requires technique, proportion, and a bit of flair to get it right. As I'll show you in this tutorial, the key to a truly exceptional Linguini and clams dish lies not in the number of ingredients, but in the way those ingredients are combined.

The First Step: Garlic Breadcrumb Mixture

To start, I need to make a garlic breadcrumb mixture. This is where the magic happens, as the combination of garlic, bread, and oil will form the foundation of our sauce. I take a couple of garlic cloves and chop them up, then pulse them into the food processor until they're finely minced. Next, I add 4 oz of sourdough bread that's been cut into half-inch pieces, and pulse until it's transformed into crumbs. The resulting mixture is fragrant and flavorful, with just the right amount of texture.

Heating Up the Dutch Oven

With my garlic breadcrumb mixture ready, it's time to heat up the Dutch oven. I add a couple of tablespoons of oil to the pan, then sprinkle in the breadcrumb mixture. As the breadcrumbs hit the hot oil, they start to crisp and brown, releasing their aromatic flavors into the air. Once the breadcrumbs are golden brown, I transfer them back to the bowl and set aside for now. The next step is to add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon zest to the breadcrumb mixture. A quick toss ensures everything is well combined, and my garlic breadcrumb mixture is ready to go.

Building the Sauce

Now it's time to start building our sauce. I pull out two anchovies and crush them into tiny bits using my fingers or a press. The resulting paste adds a salty, umami flavor to our dish that will tie everything together. Next, I add a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the pan, stirring to combine with the oil and anchovy paste. This adds just the right amount of heat to balance out the flavors. Finally, I pour in 1/3 cup of white wine, which dissolves quickly into the mixture and helps to create a rich, savory sauce.

The Clams

With my sauce ready, it's time to add the clams. I pull out two pounds of scrubbed little neck clams, which should take about 5-7 minutes to open depending on their size. As they cook, the shellfish releases its tender flesh into the sauce, infusing it with a brininess that's simply sublime. Once most of the clams are open, I put the lid back on and let them finish cooking for another minute or two. This ensures that every last clam is cooked to perfection.

Cooking the Pasta

Now that our sauce and clams are ready, it's time to cook the pasta. I pull out 12 oz of linguini, which I only need to cook for half the recommended time on the package. The idea here is to finish cooking the pasta in the liquid released by the clams, allowing it to absorb all those delicious flavors and textures. As the pasta cooks, the sauce starts to thicken and develop a rich, velvety consistency.

Final Touches

With my pasta cooked, I add a cup of the clam-infused cooking liquid to the sauce to give it an extra boost of flavor. The resulting mixture is now almost ready to be served. To finish, I pull out two tablespoons of butter and melt them into the sauce, adding just enough richness without overpowering the other flavors. Finally, I sprinkle some chopped parsley on top of the dish to add a pop of color and freshness.

The Final Step: Plating

Now that everything is ready, it's time to plate my Linguini and clams. As I transfer the pasta to a serving dish, I can see just how beautifully the sauce has come together. The clams are perfectly cooked, the pasta is al dente, and the flavors have melded together in perfect harmony. To finish, I add some of those crispy breadcrumbs on top of the dish, folding them into the pasta to create a satisfying textural contrast. And that's it – my Linguini and clams is ready to be devoured!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthean clams is one of my all-time favorite dishes it's not a lot of ingredients it comes together pretty quickly but it's all about the technique and the proportions so this is to me the ultimate version of Linguini and clams okay the first thing I'm going to do is make a garlic breadcrumb mixture I'll take a couple of garlic cloves these go into the food processor I have 4 oz of sourdough bread the crusts have been removed and it's cut into half in pieces same thing pulse until I find crumbs I have a couple tablespoons of oil that's heating up the Dutch oven and I add the breadcrumbs and these will just crisp and brown in the oil and then I bring them back over here put them back into this bowl so I will add a little bit of salt to this and then a little lemon zest just toss that all around okay I have my remaining garlic here we started off with 12 cloves and I'm using a special tool to slice it this is a mandolin so I have it on a very thin setting I just want thin shavings and same with I've really found that it's hard to add too much parsley to the dish so now I'm going to start to build the sauce for my Linguini and clams but I'm going to bring over to the stove as well two anchovies plus a/ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes so here's the process I start to Brown the garlic cloves I dissolve the anchovies and kind of cook the red pepper flakes into the oil and then I stop the cooking with 1/3 of a cup of white wine I have 2 lbs of scrubbed little neck clams so this will take about about 5 minutes for the smaller ones to open uh maybe more like 7 minutes for the slightly larger ones so they're almost all open some of them are still closed so I'll put the lid back on and they'll go for another minute or two if there's any stubborn clams left over that don't open just get rid of them cuz they maybe went in not alive all right I'm just going to get rid of it it's dead to me because it's dead all my clams are out and to keep them warm I cover them with a little foil now I'm ready to cook the pasta so this is 12 oz of linguini I'm only cooking this pasta for half the time recommended on the package and that's because I wanted to finish cooking in the liquid released by the clams so it absorbs the liquid and releases its starch into the sauce what I'm going to do now before I transfer the pasta is add a cup of the cooking liquid to the sauce I need that extra liquid for the pasta to finish cooking pasta goes in okay you can really kind of see that the texture of the sauce is changing starting to thicken up and get really glossy okay back on the board I have all the parsley that I chopped and also 2 tbsp of butter I think a good sign of properly made Linguini and clams that there's not a lot of liquid left in the pot after you plate it another trick that I love doing when I use breadcrumbs is to fold some of them into the pasta because it absorbs the sauce and clings to the Noodle and it creates this like really lovely third texture in there final step you can't forget is to add the clams back in now it's time to Plate it's noon so it's lunchtime the whole Test Kitchen is about to dig in I so excited thank you for for watching me make one of my favorite dishes of all time Linguini and clamsthean clams is one of my all-time favorite dishes it's not a lot of ingredients it comes together pretty quickly but it's all about the technique and the proportions so this is to me the ultimate version of Linguini and clams okay the first thing I'm going to do is make a garlic breadcrumb mixture I'll take a couple of garlic cloves these go into the food processor I have 4 oz of sourdough bread the crusts have been removed and it's cut into half in pieces same thing pulse until I find crumbs I have a couple tablespoons of oil that's heating up the Dutch oven and I add the breadcrumbs and these will just crisp and brown in the oil and then I bring them back over here put them back into this bowl so I will add a little bit of salt to this and then a little lemon zest just toss that all around okay I have my remaining garlic here we started off with 12 cloves and I'm using a special tool to slice it this is a mandolin so I have it on a very thin setting I just want thin shavings and same with I've really found that it's hard to add too much parsley to the dish so now I'm going to start to build the sauce for my Linguini and clams but I'm going to bring over to the stove as well two anchovies plus a/ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes so here's the process I start to Brown the garlic cloves I dissolve the anchovies and kind of cook the red pepper flakes into the oil and then I stop the cooking with 1/3 of a cup of white wine I have 2 lbs of scrubbed little neck clams so this will take about about 5 minutes for the smaller ones to open uh maybe more like 7 minutes for the slightly larger ones so they're almost all open some of them are still closed so I'll put the lid back on and they'll go for another minute or two if there's any stubborn clams left over that don't open just get rid of them cuz they maybe went in not alive all right I'm just going to get rid of it it's dead to me because it's dead all my clams are out and to keep them warm I cover them with a little foil now I'm ready to cook the pasta so this is 12 oz of linguini I'm only cooking this pasta for half the time recommended on the package and that's because I wanted to finish cooking in the liquid released by the clams so it absorbs the liquid and releases its starch into the sauce what I'm going to do now before I transfer the pasta is add a cup of the cooking liquid to the sauce I need that extra liquid for the pasta to finish cooking pasta goes in okay you can really kind of see that the texture of the sauce is changing starting to thicken up and get really glossy okay back on the board I have all the parsley that I chopped and also 2 tbsp of butter I think a good sign of properly made Linguini and clams that there's not a lot of liquid left in the pot after you plate it another trick that I love doing when I use breadcrumbs is to fold some of them into the pasta because it absorbs the sauce and clings to the Noodle and it creates this like really lovely third texture in there final step you can't forget is to add the clams back in now it's time to Plate it's noon so it's lunchtime the whole Test Kitchen is about to dig in I so excited thank you for for watching me make one of my favorite dishes of all time Linguini and clams\n"