Rao's Classics: More Than 140 Italian Favorites from the Legendary New York Restaurant by Pellegrino Jr. Frank

Author:Pellegrino, Jr., Frank [Pellegrino, Jr., Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2016-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

Linguine and Clams

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My grandparents served clam sauce every Friday, for as far back as I can remember. It was a staple at the restaurant, too. I can’t tell you what I would have done in my boyhood to never see, smell, or taste another clam. That changed when I started working with my Aunt Anna, “the Mistress of the Mollusks.” I would marvel as she warmed up a splash of olive oil with a few smashed garlic cloves. She’d take her eyes off the sauté pan to look me dead in the eye and say, “Once the garlic starts to shimmer, take it out of the pan.” Soon, I’d hear the staccato sizzle of littleneck clams hitting the scalding oil. She’d season the juices and white wine and bring them all to a delectable boil. A few moments later, my aunt would invert another sauté pan over the bubbling sauce, saying, “It helps the clams open faster.” Within a few minutes, the clams opened up and she would remove the covering pan, flooding the kitchen with the scintillating aroma of the sea. I’d watch, mesmerized, as she plucked the clams one by one from the sauce, and then drained the pasta and introduced it to the sauce, so that it could absorb the flavors and achieve a more tender bite. She would gently slide the pan’s contents into a large, white serving bowl. Like an artist finishing a canvas she would arrange the clams on top of the pasta, showering the dish with a final light garnish of freshly chopped parsley. I’d watch hungrily as the still-steaming dish headed off to its table. Serves 4

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