Clam sauce is a versatile and affordable pasta condiment with two main types: red and white. It can be made with fresh, canned, or frozen clams and can include garlic, onions, olive oil, and various seasonings. Linguine is the preferred pasta, served with grated cheese, salad, and garlic bread.
Clam sauce is a popular condiment for pasta, especially linguine. There’s no one way to go about it, which is one of the wonderful things about it – like so many Italian dishes, it’s very flexible and can cater to many different tastes. When served with pasta, it’s also one of the cheapest meals you can make for yourself or the whole family.
There are generally two different types of clam sauce: red and white. The main difference between them is that red has tomatoes. Red clam sauce can be made with fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, canned tomato paste, or salsa.
When fresh clams are used, they are usually steamed, the shells discarded, and the meat used with the natural clam juice. Using fresh clams adds time, cost, and effort to making the sauce, and it’s perfectly acceptable to use canned or frozen clams. Some markets sell cans of cooked clams, and most carry canned clams that have been chopped or minced. All three varieties are fine, and some cooks combine two or three varieties when making large batches. If using frozen clams, it’s a good idea to also purchase a bottle of clam juice to add to the sauce.
Garlic and onions are standard ingredients of most clam sauces, and olive oil is the most popular choice of oils. Sometimes other ingredients are also requested, the most popular of which are mushrooms and anchovies, both fillets and pasta. If anchovy fillets are used, they are cooked to dissolve in the oil; they are never intended to be served whole. These ingredients are generally prepared before the clams are added; in fact, the clams are usually added last, immediately before serving.
Traditional Italian seasonings such as oregano, basil, marjoram and parsley are usually used in the preparation of clam sauce. A touch of tarragon will add a seaside flavor, and many recipes call for small amounts of lemon juice as well. Cooks desiring a hotter sauce will add small amounts of red pepper flakes or hot sauce. If the sauce becomes too watery, it is acceptable to use small amounts of flour to thicken it.
Clam sauce can usually be made very quickly; in fact, making pasta generally takes longer than it does to cook sauce. Some salsa recipes, however, are more involved, calling for wine, additional clam juice, or chicken stock as liquids, which must be cooked to blend the flavors properly. The red sauce can also take much longer if whole fresh or canned tomatoes are used, as they have to cook. If you use tomato puree or salsa, however, they only add moments to the prep time. Clams require very little cooking time and should be added last to the sauce, just before serving.
Linguine is the overwhelming pasta choice when making clam sauce. It should be prepared al dente, i.e. just a touch firm and chewy. Cooks can be very flexible in how they prepare linguine once it’s cooked through and drained, though most prefer to toss it in butter or olive oil, with just a touch of salt and pepper, before serving.
Some cooks prefer to stir the sauce into the linguine before serving. Others serve the two separately and let their guests serve. Linguine with clam sauce is served with grated or grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese, a fresh garden salad, and garlic bread.
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