Sometimes I venture out into nature in search of ingredients for a very particular dish. Such was the case when I went out to NorCal’s Tomales Bay looking for littleneck clams. I’d developed a powerful urge for linguine with white clam sauce.
I did not venture out alone. You should know that I am not the only crazy Northern California forager type out there. Actually there are quite a number of us, notably my friend Connie Green and a dude named Kirk Lombard, whom I like to call King of the Space Between Sea and Shore. At the time, Kirk and I had corresponded with each other for years, but alas, had never met.
Kirk lives in San Francisco, and is obsessed with sea life and especially little fish like smelt and herring. He has been on all the TV shows, and has written a wonderful book called Sea Forager’s Guide to the Northern California Coast, which, if you live here, you need to buy.
Kirk is just as geeky and goofy and excitable as I am when it comes to finding new wild foods, and for years we kept trying and trying to do something together. I’d get these wild messages on my phone: “DUDE! Smelt are EPIC right now! Get here!”
Yeah… I live a minimum of two hours from wherever Kirk happens to be bailing the smelt, or herring or whatever. Not gonna happen.
Then I got an email from Kirk about a spot for littleneck clams, which in the West are Leukoma staminea — not the quahog or Eastern littleneck, which happens to have my favorite Latin name: Mercenaria mercenaria. Whatever the species, littlenecks are gold in these parts: Hard to find but easy to dig, delicious, and living in spots that can be easily overfished.
I know this, so was honored that Kirk would show me the spot. Sad for you, dear reader, but you don’t get to know. All I can tell you is that it is somewhere in Tomales, which is a very long bay.
As I pulled into the spot on a foggy dawn along the North Coast, I knew this would be a good meeting: We both drive crappy pickups, and we were both wearing our “office gear” — rubber boots, shabby jeans and frayed sweaters, bucket in one hand and rake in the other.
Kirk was buzzing about this spot. I said little. I am always guarded when I hear people talk like this, and I do my best to shut the hell up if I’ve have great luck in a spot I’m taking someone else to: Nature is a fickle mistress, and what’s here now could be gone tomorrow. I oughta have “you shoulda been here yesterday!” tattooed on my forearm.
But Kirk wasn’t kidding. Littlenecks were everywhere. I literally picked up 21 of my limit of 50 clams right off the rocks. On the surface. Kirk and I just kept looking at each other with silly grins. “Who needs rakes?!” he shouted.
When we finally did rake, it was just stupid. I swear on my mother’s life I dug close to 100 clams out of a space of gravel and sand no larger than a large doormat. More than half were large enough to keep. Insane, just insane. We had our limits in minutes.
What’s more, the number and size of the horseneck clams that were also there — we didn’t dig any of those — were astounding. Like Gen. MacArthur, we shall return… We were sad when it was over, but buoyant by our good luck. I couldn’t have asked for a better first meeting with a guy I am certain to see more of in the future.
Once I had my clams, there was really only one thing to do with them: Make a classic Italian white clam sauce. I am from New Jersey, after all. Kirk, born and raised in New York City, had the same idea.
I’ve adapted my rendition of white clam sauce from Marcella Hazan’s recipe in her classic book Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, which is to Italian food what Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking is to French food. As a New Jersey native, I was surprised to see tomato in Marcella’s white clam sauce. But then it is only one large plum tomato, seeded and diced. More of an accent than the base of a sauce.
Classic White Clam Sauce
Ingredients
- 20 to 30 small hardshell clams
- 1 1/4 cup white wine, divided
- 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound linguine, angel hair or other pasta
- 1 large fresh plum tomato seeded and diced
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil, torn into pieces
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make sure the clams are clean; scrub them with a stiff brush under cold water if you need to. Lay them in a large, wide pot no more than 2 clams deep. Pour over 3/4 cup of white wine. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and steam open the clams. Pay attention and pluck out each clam as it opens -- this prevents them from being overcooked. Remove the clams from their shells and cut into 2 to 3 pieces. Put them in a bowl with a tablespoon of the olive oil and toss to coat. Set aside for now.
- Discard the shells. Strain the liquid in the pan by pouring over a fine-meshed strainer with a paper towel set inside it that has been set over a bowl. Reserve the strained liquid.
- Wipe out the pan and add the remaining olive oil. Turn the heat to medium-high and saute the garlic for about 1 minute; don't let it brown. Add the red pepper flakes and the remaining white wine. Boil this for 1 minute, then add the reserved clam juice. Turn off the heat.
- Boil the pasta in a large pot of salty water. When it is almost done -- very al dente, as in just barely crunchy in the center -- move the pasta to the pan and turn the heat to high. When it begins to boil, toss the pasta with the sauce constantly so the pasta is evenly coated. Add the reserved clams and the tomatoes while you are doing this. The pasta should be fully cooked in 30 seconds to 1 minute. When it's perfect, turn off the heat and mix in the basil. Serve at once.
Nutrition
More Shellfish Recipes
Find many more clam recipes, as well as recipes for many other kinds of shellfish, here on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook.
Hello Hank,
I am envious that you get to dig clams. I live in Minnesota and all bivalves are protected species, with no open seasons.
However, we are blessed with a profusion of fungi, and lobster mushrooms are very common.
What are your thoughts on subbing out the clams for lobster mushrooms? Or any mushrooms for that matter?
Do you typically purge your littlenecks? I made this for the wife two weekends ago – have made it dozens of times before the same way, and while I scrubbed the shells well, i didn’t soak the clams in water to purge. This time, I felt like the clams had a slight “muddy” taste. I see most recipes call for purging, which I have never done before. Maybe I just did a poor job of scrubbing.
Tony: Absolutely I do. But if you bought your clams, they should already be purged.
I’ve got some canned clams that a friend caught in the Iles de Madelaines off the coast of Quebec. I don’t know what kind they are. Do you think this dish would work well with them (just skipping steps 1 & 2)?
Willoughby: Only one way to find out! Just make sure the clam bits are small, and if they’re not, chop them.
Enjoyed reading your latest food article. Yeah! So happy you found Little Neck Clams and made the white sauce. Also happy you got to finally meet your email friend and had fun together.
Cheers!
Mum
Think this would work with Pismo clams?
Brad: Sure, but you would need to chop them a bit, as Pismo clams are pretty large.
Hi Hank, Thanks for a great recipe. It brings back a lot of memories.
I grew-up on Connecticut’s southeastern shoreline and there were many summer mornings, spent with friends, gathering clams for an unnamed feast. The clam sauce was always slightly different: depending on what could be found in our neighborhood gardens … And the pasta was whatever we could find in one of our parent’s cupboards. The variations are and were endless. Again, thank you.
I can taste the seaside from here.You never fail to get my taste buds going. Thanks again for a great recipe idea.
Read this at 7am and can hardly stand the memories- my Maineiac aunt making this on the old stove at her camp on the lake (only parsley available and she used lots), my mom’s attempt to make her Maine version with the razor clams we dug on the Oregon coast and cooked on the stove in our camper ( chewy), the versions that the small locally owned Italian restaurants in eastern Massachusetts made so well. Never saw tomato but I usually had my eyes closed inhaling the smells- clams, brine, garlic, the sea, mmmmm
It is always amazing how much liquor the clams give up! I’ve made this recipe straight up and have springboarded, but always come back here to start. Great recipe. Thanks
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times and it’s very good. Thanks! I usually end up with a mixed bag of species from my clamming here in WA state. Large butter and horse clams, as well as some larger little neck and cockles. To me, it doesn’t really matter. They all taste great with the rest of the ingredients and when not overcooked, all of these species stay tender and are delicious. The last batch I made, I added a little pat of butter at the end. I like the silkiness it added. Just dug my first batch of clams this year and am probably going to make this again tomorrow. Pasta with white clam sauce isprobably one of my favorite foods. thanks for this site, it’s great.
I just made this recipe with fresh Pismo clams we dug up yesterday and it was phenomenal! A big hit with my whole family and they are a pretty picky bunch. Thank you!
The family was based in the Bronx when I grew up, I got to try dozens of versions of spaghetti and white clam sauce. After all that I always go back to Craig Claiborne’s Favorites, Vol. 2, NY Times Books, 1976. The first recipe is SPAGHETTI IN FOIL. There’s white and red, never bothered with the red, the white is too good. I can’t eat anyone else’s and neither can anyone I have made it for. No recipe on the web, you’ll have to get the book, it’s the very first recipe. Or you can go to the NY Times website to download the original column from 1/2/1975
Moon low in Narragansett Bay this Saturday. Pasta with clam sauce Sunday.
Throw out the plum tomato. Add parsley and oregano.
No butter, lemon or parsley? I’d go head to head on this recipe.
Jeanne: I do parsley when the basil isn’t fresh, and I like really good olive oil over butter. White wine does a lot for the acidity, but yeah, a little lemon is good. Two ways to look at the same dish! 🙂