Pasta with Anchovy & Clam Sauce
Submitted by oorza
Italian linguine with anchovy and clam sauce in olive oil, white wine, garlic, and rosemary. A southern Italian pasta classic built on pantry and briny shellfish.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minA southern Italian pasta dish that stretches three anchovy fillets and two cherrystone clams into a full meal. This is frugal cooking at its best, the kind of dish that Neapolitan fishmongers and grandmothers have been making for generations when seafood was plentiful but money wasn’t.
The anchovies are the foundation. Melted into hot olive oil and butter, they dissolve completely, leaving behind a deep savory umami that transforms the sauce without any fishy taste. This technique (anchovy-in-fat as a flavor base) is the same move behind puttanesca, Caesar dressing, and half the seafood sauces in Naples.
Clams contribute in two ways: their brine (the cup of reserved clam juice) and their sweet meat. The juice gets added with dry white wine for the base simmer, and the chopped clams only join in the last five minutes so they stay tender instead of turning to rubber. Fresh parsley and a pinch of rosemary finish the sauce with herbal brightness against all that briny depth.
Toss over hot linguine (never rinse pasta for this), which picks up the sauce better than thicker shapes. A final drizzle of olive oil at the table and cracked black pepper is all it needs.
Chef Tips
- Use good olive-oil-packed anchovies, not the tinned paste. Whole fillets have cleaner flavor and melt smoother.
- Open clams yourself for maximum freshness, or ask your fishmonger to open them and reserve the juice.
- Strain the reserved clam juice through a coffee filter to catch any shell grit before adding to the pan.
- Finish cooking the linguine in the sauce itself for the last 30 seconds. The pasta absorbs the sauce in a way plain drained pasta can’t.
Variations
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes along with the garlic for subtle heat.
- Swap clams for mussels or add a handful of peeled shrimp alongside the clams.
- Finish with grated bottarga (cured tuna or mullet roe) for extra umami in place of cheese, which Italians never use on seafood pasta.
Ingredients
Directions
If salted whole anchovies are used, wash them in cold running water to remove most of the external salt and any tiny scales that may be present.
Use the fingers to pull the fillets from the bone.
Discard the bones.
Set the fillets aside.
Open the clams or have them opened and reserve both the clams and 1 cup of clam juice.
Finely chop the clams and set aside.
Heat the oil and butter in a skillet.
Add the garlic and shallots and cook until light brown.
Add the anchovies and stir until they dissolve.
Add the parsley, rosemary, reserved clam juice and white wine and bring to a boil.
Add pepper and a tiny bit of salt and simmer 15 minutes.
Add the chopped clams and cook 5 minutes.
Serve piping hot over the freshly cooked pasta.
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