Clam Shaush Pashta

Dudes! This is actually my recipe!

OK, so out in the real world, its Linguine con Vongole, and it's supposed to be made with genuine clams. You have to deal with the shells, and drain out all the sand, and all that. Thank you, I'll have the nice people at the restaurant do that, most of the time.

Or, at the other extreme -- and it's not like there's much in between -- it's a can of Snow's clams with the packing juices and "1/4 teaspoon dried parsley". And maybe some cream on the odd theory that a "white clam sauce" must require it.

So I'm going to be snotty and plebeian at the same time here. Canned clams, but real ingredients. No sand, but actual preparation. There is a middle ground where you buy cooked (maybe frozen) clam meat at your local shellfish purveyor, but unless you live in Oakland or your Trader Joe's happens to have it, go with the can.

If you've got a bigger crowd, you can stretch the same sauce over a pound of pasta. If you've got a really really big crowd, start doubling up on the cans of clams and bottles of juice, until you get to such a huge crowd that you need those giant cans (clams and juice both) that are weirdly labeled something like "#2". Just keep the proportions roughly correct, and remember that you'll need a HUGE pot to boil the pasta in and a very large pot just for the sauce.

3/4 lb. pasta
2 tbsp. olive oil
2-3 anchovies, mashed
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
A few shakes dried red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 8-oz bottle clam juice
1 10-oz. can whole baby clams (I use Geisha)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/8 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese (optional)

I've put pasta first in the ingredients because if you use some really gnarly thick pasta, you'll have to get it going before anything else; on the other hand, if you use capellini (and this dish does work with capellini), you need to throw it in at the very last minute, when the sauce is all but done. Anyway, boil the water first. You never know; someone might have a baby.

Chop/mash the anchovies and pop them into a skillet (9 in. or so). Press on them with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to flatten them out. Then add the olive oil and turn the heat on low while you prepare the other ingredients.

When the anchovies have pretty completely dissolved into the oil, add the garlic and turn the heat up a little. Then just keep stirring until the garlic smells cooked instead of raw. It will look a distinctly awful greyish-brown at this point.

Add the wine and turn the heat up to a full boil. Add the dried basil and the pepper flakes. Stir regularly. You're ready to move on when enough of the wine liquid has boiled off so that it's thick and soupy. Careful: if you turn your back on it for two minutes at this point the remaining liquid will boil off and you'll have burnt crap at the bottom of your skillet and be stuck with takeout Chinese.

Add the clam juice and about a third of the fresh basil. Keep the heat high, stirring until you get back to the soupy appearance again. At this point you can add pasta cooking water (don't forget to scald yourself pulling it out of the cooking pasta) to thin the sauce and then boil down more. This cycle can go on for hours if you have a thick pasta that requires long boiling; make sure you have a friend check that you haven't just gone into a coma.

When the pasta is within about three minutes of being done (for capellini, about two minutes before you put it in), add the clams and the second third of basil. Keep the heat high and add water as necessary.

Drain the pasta (but do not rinse) and return it to the pot. Now, if you are confident that the amount of sauce matches the pasta exactly, add the sauce to the pasta along with the remaining basil; otherwise, dress the pasta with a little olive oil, add the remaining basil to the sauce, and get everyone to table. (And turn the burner under the sauce off!)

Serve with parsley and optional cheese sprinkled over the top.

If you find you have too little sauce, you can add a little more pasta water and boil vigorously for a minute. This even works with the dregs of the sauce, maybe adding a little more olive oil as well.

Other optional additions: olives, capers, cheese in the sauce. You can add a tablespoon or so of butter to get a slightly thicker and richer sauce. Earlier (about when you add the clams), some claim a tablespoon or two of vodka smooths the sauce out, as long as you boil it enough to cook away the hard alcohol. If you must add vodka, I think it is probably better to add it to the guests rather than the sauce, but whatever.