Spaghetti with Clams

My boyfriend has been working late the last 2 weeks and as a result I've been doing all the cooking. It's given me a chance to try out a lot of new recipes.

I found this recipe for Spaghetti with Clams on the Food Network's website HERE, originally by Giada De Laurentiis.

This dish looks fancy but was suprisingly quick and easy to make, taking only about 20 mins to cook. The sauce looks plain but has a nice light taste.

Ingredients:

1 pound dried spaghetti

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 shallots, thinly sliced

5 to 7 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 1/2 pounds Manila clams, scrubbed clean

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced into small cubes

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, zested, for garnish

I found that half a pound of spaghetti was fine. I used angel hair because that was what I had in the apartment, but Spaghetti or Linguine may have been better.

For the clams, I ended up going to my grocery store and getting whatever they had. I don't know much about clams so I asked the man working in the seafood department which type would be good. They didn't have the Manila clams that the recipe called for. I ended up buying Mahogany clams. I've since read that the two types are fairly similar and are about the same size, with one being from the west coast (Manila) and the other being from the east coast (Mahogany).

Directions:
In a large pot, bring to a boil 6 quarts of salted water. Add pasta, stirring constantly in the beginning to prevent it from sticking together. Cook until al dente, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan. When almost smoking, add shallots and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the clams and wine. Cover and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes or until most clams have opened.
Add 2 tablespoons chopped parsley. Whisk in butter to thicken sauce slightly.

Drain pasta in a colander. Do not rinse pasta with water – this will remove the pasta's natural starches. Place pasta into the clam saute pan and mix thoroughly. Check seasoning.

Pour pasta into large serving bowl. Zest lemon over the dish, being carefull not to zest the white part of the lemon, which is bitter. Garnish with remaining parsley. Serve immediately.

This recipe was very tasty. I'll definitly be making it again in the future.