This recipe for Clam Linguine is easy and impressive for tonight’s dinner. Hot cooked noodles are topped with a creamy clam sauce.
This was one of a dozen recipe that my Mom used to make us over and over again for dinner. I’m sure she cut it out of a magazine somewhere, and she held onto that recipe ever since. I copied Mom’s recipe for clam linguine because I always liked when that’s what was on the table for dinner. It’s a good pasta recipe, and it’s very simple to make.
Ingredients needed:
- salted butter
- garlic
- fresh parsley
- half and half cream
- all purpose flour
- canned chopped clams
- freshly squeezed lemon juice
- linguine noodles
How to make Clam Linguine:
The full, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
Toss the hot pasta a bit with the clam sauce, and then spoon individual servings onto plates. Enjoy!
Canned Clams vs. Fresh Clams:
This recipe is made with canned clams. There’s no need to use fresh clams unless you happen to live in a location where fresh clams are easy to find. I made clam linguine before when we were in New England one summer because the local market had shells clams in their seafood department ready to go! But back in Arizona where we live most of the time, fresh clams are hard to come by. This clam linguine recipe will be good made either way.
The Best Classic Pasta Recipes:
Clam Linguine
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (½ stick) salted butter
- 5 medium garlic cloves, smashed
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1½ teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup half and half cream
- Three 7-ounce cans chopped clams (use the juice of 2½ cans)
- freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
- One 16-ounce package linguine noodles, cooked according to package instructions
Instructions
- In large saucepan, melt the butter. Sauté the garlic in the butter until softened, then use a slotted spoon to remove the garlic and discard. Stir in the parsley.
- Carefully whisk in the flour. Add the half and half, clams + juice, and a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice.
- Cook, stirring, over medium heat until hot and thickened.
- Serve over fresh cooked linguine noodles.
Notes
- To smash the garlic, just set the garlic cloves on a cutting board and smash with the side of a large knife. If you like more garlic flavor, mince a couple of large cloves to keep in the sauce (and then you don't have to remove anything).
- I've used fat-free half and half in this recipe with good results.
- By all means, use fresh chopped clams if you have easy access to them.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love this dish so much! Thank you for this recipe! I just shouldn’t have read the approximated nutritional information! WOW!
loved this recipe. Super easy and fast to make for a weeknight dinner. This is a keeper. I didn’t have lemons….had a lime, and it worked fine too. Really like it . Thanks for this.
Thus is a great recipe! I added white truffle oil to the sauce to make it outstanding!