Friday, July 20, 2007

Simply elegant: Pasta with lemon clam sauce

Tonight I decided to take a break from our summer grilling routine and cook up a pasta dish that has been in my family forever. I'm fairly certain this recipe originated with my Aunt Katie, as did many of my family favorites. My mother used to make it all the time, and since I was in college, I have done the same when I've wanted to serve something up quick, for family or for guests or for just myself.

I've experimented trying to make this healthier by using olive oil instead of butter, but in all honesty, I gotta admit, butter is better. I love this because I can cook the sauce in less time than it takes to boil the pasta.

Pasta with lemon clam sauce

16-ounce package pasta (spaghetti, linguini, rigatoni, penne, rotini, whatever you like the best)
Juice squeezed from 2 lemons
3 6.5-ounce cans minced or chopped clams
3 cloves garlic
1 cube butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 fresh chopped parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a saucepan, melt butter. Press garlic and add to butter. Strain clam nectar into a small bowl. Add drained clams to butter in pan. Heat for 5 minutes. To clam nectar, squeeze juice from lemons. Mix nectar and lemon juice into saucepan with butter and clams. Add wine. Let heat through while pasta cooks. Drain pasta. Combine sauce with pasta and top with fresh chopped parsley. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

4 comments:

Lori said...

This sounds yummy. I love any kind of pasta with clams. But what do you mean by 1 cube of butter? Is that a stick?

Tess Knadler said...

Yes, a stick of butter -- half a cup.

Lori said...

Thanks, I will try it some time after I've been at the gym for three or four hours!

Tess Knadler said...

The recipe makes a lot-- so it really isn't that much butter per serving... and it's also good(though not quite AS good) if you just brown the garlic in a generous bit of olive oil and skip the butter altogether.