Clam Pasta With Basil and Hot Pepper Recipe (2024)

The first part is a pesto. If you take 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the pasta water and add it to the pesto, then it will mix more thoroughly with the pasta and will adhere more evenly.

As the clams steam, they will open at different rates. I suggest removing the clams from the pan as they open so that they don't get overcooked and rubbery. If a few aren't opening, give them a little nudge along the edge with a knife to help them open. Now, as Carl Bereiter suggests in another comment, the pan is clear to add the pasta and pesto mixture and let it cook for a few minutes to take the edge off the garlic and incorporate the flavors into the pasta. Very delicious.

mash garlic up with a little salt until you get a paste.

Great recipe! I took the clams out of the pot when they opened and set aside. Then I added the purée to the liquid in the pot...added the pasta straight from the cooking water and added clams back. Lemon is key!

I use a rather fine Microplane and scrape the garlic across it. It is easy to make a paste that way.

Substitute cilantro for parsley and ground red pepper for pepper flakes and you get a great dish with the perfect bite.

Hadn't made this in a while. Had a few heirlooms tomatoes that needed to be used. Chopped them and added them after the garlic sautéed. Let them cook down a little then continued the recipe. A good add!

I've found a glass of slightly off-dry riesling goes well with the heat of the peperoncino...

Hi! I just bought clams at my local Chinatown fishmonger today. He (and all the other fish mongers in the neighborhood) sells them by the pound. Where I grew up on the West Coast, they were (and still are) always sold by the pound. I've always found selling clams by quantity rather than weight very strange. It's all relative.

This was phenomenal. I normally make a killer clam sauce, but the basil/parsley blend really made this dish pop. I used a few more garlic cloves and bucatini pasta with freshly shaved Pecorino Romano. Added some pasta water to the sauce too. Will def make again, everyone loved it.

Yet another recipe that perpetuates the myth of discarding clams that don't open during cooking. The way you determine a clam is alive is *before* cooking. Tap the shell with a spoon several times. Clams that don't close in response to being tapped are dead and should be discarded. The others are fine, and if they don't open during cooking, just pry them open with a table knife and enjoy. They're perfectly fine.

steam at least 2 dozen clams don't add water and remove from shell. Add in when the cooked clams have opened. 3/4- 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and a full cup of white wine

Why do people write recipes that call for "Pounds" of clams? Clams are sold by quantity, not by weight.

I made this pasta on a tired Thursday night, with no clams and no wine in sight. This recipe elevated a can of tuna to something both delicious and comforting, and a little lemon zest brightened it all up. The basil-parsley blend slid right out of the food processor without a problem. Salud to a humble and successful weeknight recipe!

One of my all-time favorite recipes, and so simple. If you have a mini-chopper, it's a cinch. Folding the pesto into the pasta before adding it to the clams, as others suggest, is a good idea. I leave the clam shells in the pot, it's part of the visual appeal and help retain all of the luscious clam liquor.

SO good!! I did follow one of the suggestions on here to stir the paste in with the pasta before adding to the clams and I’m glad I did. Don’t skimp on the lemon too.

Our local market was having a special on Manila clams so I picked up 4 pounds and made this recipe with parsley and basil fresh from the backyard. It was a tremendous hit in our house - highly recommend it. Making sure the pasta is al dente is important to allow it to stand up to rough handling and competing with the clams. Can’t wait to make this again.

Absolutely delicious!! I cooked the clams in the oil/wine/fennel seed/red pepper flakes, then transferred out not to overcook. Added back in once the pasta and herb “pesto” was in. Added extra pasta water to get it a little brothier. I might add some clam juice to try next time to make more of a broth. Flavors were amazing!

I also removed the clams then added them to the pasta/purée mix. Wonderful recipe!

Very good. Used red paper flakes but fresh peppers would be good.

I appreciated the tip about using jarred pesto in lieu of the first step in the recipe. This hack saves time and resulted in an absolutely delicious dish that I shall be making often.

very, very good! made exactly like the recipe but used curly parsley.

I made the recipe as written with the following adjustments. I had 3 lbs. of little neck clams. Soaked in salt water for 30 min to release sand. Made paste of 6 cloves of garlic, 1/4 c of olive oil and .5 tsp of crushed red pepper. For the liquid, used 1/2 of white wine, a splash of white vermouth, and a bottle of clam juice. Served cooked pasta in bowl, topped it with the clams and anointed the whole plate with the broth.

Thank you all for your notes! I made the recipe for each component - then removed each clam as they opened, saved some pasta water and mixed it with the herb puree, put the drained pasta into the clam broth and stirred in the herb puree, then added the clams and mixed. And, yes, the lemon wedges are key. Delicious recipe and more beautifully mixed together because of your hints.

This was pretty dreamy. I'm used to just using chopped parsley in Vongole, but the pesto puree was a great switch up that makes it more luscious. Fennel is a great addition. I did add it into the pasta directly like others have said. I'd add more pepper flakes next time, but other than that, it's a real keeper.

What a completely delicious pasta! It was VERY garlicky, and very filling--I couldn't manage my usual three helpings, I think I bought a particularly dense artisanal linguine. I also shelled the clams once they'd opened and I had a couple of minutes before the pasta was ready--made it much easier to eat, though it was soupy with all that clam/wine liquid. But nevertheless superb.

I tried this with 2 cans of whole clams and this quickened the recipe- all in all, it took 20-30 minutes to make... I also added the juice from the canned clams because I found a quarter cup of white wine to be insufficient liquid.

One of the best dishes I've made from the NYT.