red clam sauce over spaghetti
serves 4
- 1 lb. fresh chopped clams, with their juice
- 1- 28 oz. can san marzano plum tomatoes, chopped with juice
- 2 t italian tomato paste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 t fresh garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 3 fillets tinned or jarred anchovies (we love oritz brand), chopped
- splash of dry white wine (about 1/4 cup)
- red pepper flakes (a pinch)
- 1/2 t sugar
- 1 t dried oregano
- 2 t dried basil
- 1/2 bunch italian parsley, chopped (for garnish)
- 3/4 lb. spaghetti or linguine noodles
- black pepper
- optional- grated reggiano parmesan for lightly topping
boil a pot of water for your pasta (pasta will take about 8 minutes or follow directions on bag). heat a large heavy duty pan or skillet over med high heat, add olive oil and when oil is hot add the onion, garlic, anchovies, red pepper flakes and stir until onions soften. add tomatoes, stir, add tomato paste, oregano, basil and sugar. reduce heat to medium and simmer for a few minutes, taste for saltiness, add black pepper, and more pepper flakes if not spicy enough for ya. stir in the clams in their juice and simmer for about 5 minutes (at this point check for consistency, if sauce is too thick, give it a small splash of wine and simmer for a couple of minutes).
drain pasta and return the amount you want to serve to the empty pot (i like lots of sauce in proportion to pasta so i mix in some of the sauce with the pasta, to season the pasta, then serve a nice pile of sauce on top of each serving. garnish with parsley and a little grated reggiano parmesan if you’d like.
