Creamy Canned Clam Linguine with White Wine Sauce
This super simple pantry pasta recipe is made with just a handful of shelf stable ingredients. Fast, kid friendly and delicious, this is a real weeknight dinner winner!
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pasta any long, skinny variety will work: capellini, spaghetti, linguini or bucatini
- 1 C Pasta Cooking Water reserve, may not need all of it.
- 1-2 glugs Olive Oil
- 1 Yellow Onion diced
- ½ C White Wine
- 2 cans Chopped Clams with their juice
- 1 teaspoon Dried Parsley
- 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- ½-1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes optional for a little kick
- 1 C Half n Half or ½ cup each cream and milk
- Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a stockpot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook your pasta according to package directions. Note: If there is a time range, cook it on the shorter end of the spectrum, as the pasta will continue to cook when the hot sauce is added. TIP: Be sure to reserve a cup of pasta cooking water when you drain your noodles. You may not need to use the whole thing, but pasta water is gold when you're making pasta sauce!1 lb Pasta, 1 C Pasta Cooking Water
- Heat a few glugs of olive oil over medium heat in a sauté pan. Once it's shimmering, add the diced onions and a pinch of salt. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, until the onions are mostly translucent at the edges and are quite soft.1-2 glugs Olive Oil, 1 Yellow Onion, Kosher Salt and Pepper
- Add the wine (if using) and reduce by half.½ C White Wine
- Add the clams with their juices and your herbs/spices, then simmer for another 3-4 minutes.2 cans Chopped Clams, 1 teaspoon Dried Parsley, 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme, ½-1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- Pour the half and half into the mix, stir, then simmer for about 3 minutes.1 C Half n Half
- Once the sauce is ready, pour it into the stockpot where you cooked your pasta. Add the cooked pasta in with it, and stir. If you have the patience, allow it to rest for about 5 minutes with a lid on. Come back to stir, adding pasta water as necessary to make it silky and creamy.
- Season with salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy!Kosher Salt and Pepper
Notes
Storage Instructions
- Refrigeration: Joe and I can never get through a pound of pasta by ourselves in just one night. Luckily, the leftovers are quite delicious, and I often eat them for lunch the next day. Cooked pasta and white clam sauce should keep in the fridge for 4-7 days. Because this dish contains seafood, it’s best enjoyed sooner rather than later for optimal freshness and flavor, but I’ve totally eaten it after a week with no problem. Use your nose and your best judgement!
- Freezing: Freezing this creamy clam linguine isn’t recommended, as the cream sauce tends to break and the clams and pasta tend to get mushy after defrosting.
- TIP: If you didn't use all of the pasta water you set to the side before putting up your leftovers, save it. Pasta has a tendency to soak in a lot of the sauce when it gets cold, and the pasta water helps to keep the leftovers nice and creamy when you reheat them.
- Reheating: Add the pasta to a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of pasta cooking water, broth, or white wine to help loosen the sauce. Warm gently, stirring occasionally, until heated through—this helps prevent the pasta from drying out. You can also reheat it in the microwave in short intervals, stirring in between and adding a little liquid as needed to bring the sauce back to life.
- Low-Carb - If you're doing the whole keto/low carb thing, there is no better substitute for pasta than Palmini. Made from hearts of palm, these yummy "noodles" will take on just about any flavor you throw at them without giving a flavor of their own. They are a bit pricey, but the bright side is you just have to open a can, drain them and dump them into the sauce. If you opt to use palmini, you're not going to have any pasta water to help you thicken up the sauce. You can either opt to simmer the sauce down to a thicker consistency, or take the shortcut of adding a slurry of about ¼-½ teaspoon of cornstarch or arrowroot powder with a teaspoon of water to the sauce and cooking for an extra minute or two to thicken.
- Gluten-Free - Swap in your favorite gluten-free noodles, but make sure to cook them according to package directions. Note that some will have you rinse the pasta after cooking to prevent gumminess, so read the instructions!
- Add Extras - if you want to turn this pantry meal into a fancy affair, a few extra ingredients can make a big difference. While these are certainly delicious additions, they are not strictly necessary:
- Parmesan is excellent when grated over the top for a little extra richness and umami. (I prefer using a wedge of fresh cheese over the shakable kind, but either will do. The real stuff melts better, though.)
- Quick garlic breadcrumbs (panko + Johnny's Garlic Seasoning and Spread or a couple of cloves of minced garlic + olive oil or butter toasted in a pan until golden and fragrant) add crunch to the final dish.
- Fresh parsley or thyme leaves add a bright pop of color and a hint of freshness.
- Grated lemon zest is nice if you want to cut through the richness of the creamy white clam sauce.
- Either fresh or dried pasta will work just fine. Dried is cheaper (you can find it for less than a dollar a pound!) and is easy to store on a pantry shelf nearly indefinitely. That said, fresh pasta is delicious. Whenever there is a sale on packaged fresh pasta, I usually stock a few containers in the freezer for "special" occasions. Fresh pasta also cooks up faster than dried, so that's something to consider. And if you're game, you can absolutely make your own fresh pasta for super cheap—it’s typically made with just flour, water, olive oil, and some salt! (P.S. If you love eating homemade pasta and want to make your life easier, this Philips pasta maker is totally worth it.)
- Reduce food waste by saving your pasta water. Be sure to reserve a cup of pasta cooking water when you drain your noodles. You may not need to use the whole thing, but pasta water is gold when you're making pasta sauce, boxed mac & cheese, homemade ciabatta rolls, black pepper focaccia, and more!
- Don’t overlook the frozen aisle. Save yourself a little time (and tears) and use frozen, chopped onions to get dinner on the table pronto.
- Can’t find your can opener? Don't fret. While using a spoon to open a can is a little tedious, I can attest that it works in a pinch. Check out this how-to guide to see how it's done.
Nutrition
Calories: 359kcalCarbohydrates: 61gProtein: 11gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 34mgPotassium: 267mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 194IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 66mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!