Always an easy go-to, since it’s made completely from ingredients readily available in anyone’s pantry, really. Dried pasta, olive oil, fresh garlic, canned clams, white wine & spices – don’t you always have those on hand?
Well, you should.
Anyway, after browsing through several of the shelf-loads of Italian cookbooks I’ve amassed looking for a possible variation on my usual recipe, I found one from Maurizio Mazzon’s Il Fornaio Pasta Book that worked wonderfully. He used pretty much the exact same recipe I’ve done for many years now, only with a slight difference in procedure that made a very positive difference.
Bear in mind that all my ratios here are for pretty much a double-sized portion of pasta, since that’s what I usually make myself. (And for those of you more worried about my weight than I am – first, THANKS!- and second, relax – I always eat light the rest of any pasta-for-dinner day, especially in the carb department).
I started with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, enough to give a six inch saucepan a good 1/8″ layer. I added a pinch or two of red pepper flakes, and 2 large garlic cloves – one sliced thin, the other minced. I brought this up on a medium heat until the garlic got fragrant and I saw the tiniest of bubbles forming – maybe thirty seconds or so. Then I added a half cup of white wine (pinot grigio, but any light/dry white will do). Brought it to a simmer – and here’s where Mazzon’s method kicked in – I cooked the wine down until it was practically gone. What remained was mostly the oil/garlic/pepper mix with perhaps barely a tablespoon of other fluid left. I immediately added one small can of minced clams and all the juice inside. A pinch or two of kosher salt & a teaspoon of dried basil in next, brought it to a slow simmer, and then used it to finish cooking the drained pasta while adjusting with maybe a half a cup of reserved pasta water. I used thin spaghetti, and linguine works very well with this too.
And that’s it. I used to add the clam juice and wine at the same time and reduce by half, and that made a decent sauce – but this version tasted better – a stronger clam broth flavor with an overtone of the wine cutting through the garlic oil, instead of everything on an even keel, I guess… really the only way I can describe it. And I think I’ll be cooking it this way from now on. Thanks Mazzon!
If I ever use live clams, I’ll do what I always did before – steam them open first in a mix of water & a little white wine, shuck them, chop the bigger ones up like if I use cherrystones with the little necks & reserve the filtered broth for sauce use. The method will be the same as using the canned clams.
This one is simple & kid-friendly enough to make its way into the next Phigg & Clyde book, most likely. Although I’m planning on making that one a lot about their time-sensitized cat from ancient Egypt, and MY cat only sniffs at my finished pasta meals and gives me a “Are you really gonna EAT that?” look before walking away disappointed that I didn’t make chicken. But I’ll figure it out.
Jim Berkin 
😋