Real Food for Real Life

Thursday, September 29, 2011

I had to have this!

Linguine with Clams and Roasted Tomatoes

A few weeks ago I found a recipe in The New York Times for linguine with littleneck clams and roasted tomatoes...the picture alone was enough to make me drool, but after reading the recipe, I knew I had to have this.  But what to do?  If I served a bowl of pasta with clams in their shells, Chris would go running from the room, and chances were good that Ben would turn his nose up at it too.  

A week or so later came a day to cook from pantry stores, and with this dish still stuck firmly in my brain, I went with it.  I had a can of minced clams in their liquor and a bottle of clam juice, so I figured that I would substitute those for the whole clams and see what happened.  Chris was none the wiser, his only complaint being that the tomatoes weren't cooked into a "sauce" (the boy not being a tomato fan).  Ben knew exactly what I was doing, but enjoyed the dish anyway (but why not with whole clams?).  I made a few other changes from the original recipe to accommodate what I had on hand, including using some mojo de ajó  I had in the fridge instead of the olive oil and sliced garlic (remembered after I had taken the picture, alas).  I will definitely make this garlicky, luxurious tasting dish again, but next time I will add a second can of clams and skip the bottled clam juice.

Linguine with Clams and Roasted Tomatoes

1 lb. cherry or tomatoes, halved
1 pound dry linguine(I used a 13oz box of Dreamfields)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake, more to serve if desired
1 cup dry white wine
1 small can minced clams with liquor
1 small bottle clam juice


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the tomatoes and the mojo de ajó to coat in a baking dish large enough to accommodate them in a single layer; roast tomatoes for 20 minutes.  In a large pot of heavily salted boiling water, cook the pasta until it is 2 minutes from being done to taste. Drain.  Return the pasta pot to medium-high heat and add the roasted tomatoes, wine and clam juice. Bring to a boil and add the linguine and can of clams with liquor; reduce heat to medium and cook until the pasta is al dente and the clams have heated through (do not overcook or you will have tough clams and mushy pasta).  Divide mixture among serving bowls and serve, garnishing with chopped parsley if you have it on hand.

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