White Clam Sauce with Greens
This approach to making clam sauce evolved out of a combination of necessity, opportunity,and chance. I suspect this is, in fact,the way many recipes develop. I have always loved Spaghetti Alle Vongole, most often enjoyed in a restaurant. But, obtaining the small clams has always been difficult in the United States, even here on the East coast. So, how do I bring the briny flavors of these clams with garlic, white wine and herbs to my table on a regular basis?After trying a container of frozen chopped clams from the supermarket along with a small bottle of clam juice I realized this was not going to be easy. I tried a couple of bottles of clam juice and reduced the juice by half. I got a little more flavor but the overall experience lacked the clammy intensity of a good Vongole. Then I was at the local fish market. First I noticed that they had big, half gallon cans of clam juice. Then I looked for the small vongole and was disappointed. So I asked what they had for clams. One of the choices was a quart of sliced clams. These are the clam strips that they use for fried clams at the market. I had more clam juice to play with. As evident below, I use two cups of juice and reduce it to about half a cup. That level of reduction plus the large amount of chopped clam strips gave me the intensity of briny clam flavor our was looking for. More recently, I began playing with the herbs I added. I began with fresh thyme. But then remembered having clams oreganata,an Italian American appetizer. My memory was jogged by the fact that I had a big, healthy oregano plant in a south window of the garage this winter, right next to my thyme plant. So, oregano and thyme take their place as a permanent part of this recipe, the brightness of these herbs blending with the concentrated clam juice. So naturally, the sweet corn is there to create balance, thanks Samin Nosrat. So why the greens? Well, I used to use fresh, chopped flat leaf parsley. But, I thought I could get a blend of green and bitter from something with more nutrients. I also grow a lot of kale, amaranth, and chard in my garden, blanching and freezing large amounts for use in the winter. And, there it is. Not a revolution, a recipe evolution.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large shallots chopped, about 1 ½ cups
- 4-5 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 medium fennel bulb chopped
- 2 cups clam juice
- 1 cup sweet corn fresh cut off the cob or frozen
- 1 ½ tsp fresh thyme
- 1 ½ tsp fresh oregano
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 cups clam strips chopped
- 3 cups Amaranth or Escarole chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- to taste salt and pepper
- Grated parmigiano reggiano (optional)
Instructions
- Sauté the shallots and fennel until they begin to soften but not brown.
- Add garlic, corn, thyme and oregano and continue cooking on medium low heat for a couple of minutes more until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the clam juice, any liquid drained from the clam strips, and the wine. Turn the heat up in the pan to reduce the liquid to about 1 cup.
- Add the greens, turn the heat down to low, and cover the pan. Depending on the age of the Amaranth greens and the size of the leaves you used, the Amaranth may take 8-15 minutes to cook. Taste a bit of the greens every so often to determine when they are just tender.
- Just before they are done to your liking put in the lemon zest and add salt and pepper to taste. Finish cooking the greens.
- At the very end, add the clam strips and the pasta and cook for a couple of minutes stirring continuously. This will help get the clams cooked and the starch on the pasta become incorporated into the remaining reduction of clam juice and wine. (Note: the clams will cook at this last stage without getting overcooked and rubbery)
- Note: I like good Parmesano Reggiano with this clam sauce. Some think cheese with seafood is a no-no but it really is a matter of taste. Sometimes I use escarole rather than Amaranth, especially during the winter when I don’t have Amaranth in the garden and am out of frozen Amaranth. Escarole, available in most grocery stores, is a little milder in flavor than Amaranth (especially Amaranth from late in the season). When using escarole or spinach, I don’t have to cook the greens very long and I sometimes skip the lemon zest.
This is a “one pot” meal for the most part. But, it certainly benefits from a glass of the best, dry white wine you can afford. If you want a salad with it, I would suggest a citrus salad such as this one from the NYTimes: Winter Citrus Salad with Honey Dressing Recipe – NYT Cooking (nytimes.com)