Fork it Over | Linguine con Vongole

I'm back with another recipe! ...If you couldn't already deduce that from the mountain of pasta in the next picture with words all over it. This is one of my mom's recipes - it has several steps but they're all relatively simple, and you can learn how to make this "impressive" dish in one go. Meaning, next time I bring this to a potluck or make it at the apartment, you'll all know exactly how I did it. Hm, I didn't really think that part through, did I?

(Thanks to Mom for the recipe and for her hand modeling action in these shots!)

First, let's talk ingredients. You'll need:

Ingredients:

- linguine, fresh is always better but boxed is ok - a few cans of clams in juice (we made dinner for 4 people including 2 hungry boys/men in the house, so 4 cans for us, but you can adjust that according to your diners!) - fresh garlic - fresh thyme if you have it, some parsley too (we added more dried thyme here instead) - 1 onion - white wine - butter - flour - parmesan cheese (for a garnish if desired) - frozen spinach & lemon (for a side dish if desired)

There are many steps, and many pictures, so click the link to see the rest of this post!

Step 1: Make sure you have all of your ingredients and chop up the ones that need chopping: onions, garlic, herbs. Start cooking your pasta water in the big pot - if you're cooking a whole pound of pasta you'll need lots of water and it'll take some decent time to come to a good rolling boil.

Step 2: Pick out four pans and put them on the stove - one large one for pasta water, one medium one for the sauce, one smaller sauce pan for the roux, and one low one for the spinach if needed.

Step 3: Begin sautéing your chopped onions with a splash of olive oil over low to medium heat in the pan meant for the sauce.

You can finish chopping your garlic on this step - keep your pan on low heat so the onions don't burn, and stir them around once in a while!

(Your onions should start to become translucent and maybe a little browned but not too dark - you'll know if they've been burnt!)

Step 4: Add your garlic...

And your herbs - here we sliced fresh and dried thyme together, as we didn't have enough fresh thyme. Fresh is always better, friends! Man, I want an herb garden... that's another post for another day.

Step 5: Stir everything around a little bit and when the onions are more translucent, add about 1/2 - 1 cup white wine.

And, begin cooking your spinach if you haven't already! It's always good to pretend you want to be healthy by including some frozen veggies on the side of a luxurious pasta dish...

Step 6: Your pasta water should be boiling now, so add the pasta! If dried it will take longer than fresh, so make sure to read the instructions on the package. You know this already.

Step 7: Add the clam juice and clams to the sauce pan.

Step 8: In another pan start cooking a chunk of butter. I said this dish was easy, I didn't say it was good for you!

Keep stirring your clam sauce, cooking it down a bit.

Step 9: When your butter is melted, add about 1/4 cup flour to it slowly, stirring as the butter and flour mix, to make a roux to thicken up the sauce.

By now, your pasta should be done, and you can drain it and put it back in the big pot!

Step 10: Add the butter-flour roux to the sauce, stirring until it's all mixed in. The sauce should be much thicker now.

Step 11: Add to the pasta pot and mix with tongs!

Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese or parsley if you so desire! And don't forget your vegetables...

Go ahead, have seconds. I won't tell.