When it's all about the broth

For five summers now, I've gone clamming with friends in Rhode Island's quahog-rich waters. Rake in hand and potato-sack tied to our waists, we've waded into waist-high water (or neck-high, depending on the tides and one's competitive streak) of Point Judith Pond for a few hours of digging up quahogs and cherrystones in the bright summer sun. Mind you, wearing shoes and employing a rake can be more cumbersome than efficient. Giving up on the shoes and rake often leads to a routine of barefoot digging (usually blindly in the murky waters) and then gasping and diving, all of which is an adventure in and of itself since this process lends well to churning up all walks of sea life. In the end, it's always good fun and involves a fair amount of laughing at oneself and one's friends (especially when the horseshoe crabs get curious). On the boat ride back to shore, cracking open that first freshly caught cherrystone leaves one unable to do anything but raise a toast to summer.



With shellfish on the mind, I turn to an easily underrated cooking option for clams and mussels: pasta. Everyone knows the loaf of bread that is required after a bucket of clams or mussels in order to soak up the best part of the whole dish. With pasta, you can enjoy the soaking-up of brothy excellence in between each clam or mussel. Below is Mark Bittman's recipe for linguine, cherry tomatoes, and clams. Also, a variation by Bittman with plum tomatoes and different herbs. Here's to summer!

Mark Bittman's Linguine with Cherry Tomatoes and Clams (or Mussels)

serves 4; 30 minutes

Salt

About ½ cup evoo

1 Tb minced garlic

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved crosswise

½ cup dry white wine or water

1.5 lbs littleneck or other hard-shell clams or cockles, well scrubbed, those with broken shells discarded

2 sprigs fresh thyme, or a few pinches dried

8 oz linguine or other long pasta, preferably whole wheat

Black pepper

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put ¼ cup of the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. When it’s hot, add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about a minute.
2. Stir in the tomatoes, wine, clams, and thyme. Raise the heat to high, cover, and cook, gently shaking the skillet or stirring the clams occasionally, until the first few of them open, about 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the clams are open (if any don’t, you can open them with a butter knife), about 3 more minutes. (If you like, remove the shells from the clams and return the clams to the skillet; I leave them whole.) If the pasta isn’t ready, turn off the heat.
3. Meanwhile, cook the linguine in the boiling water until tender but not mushy (start tasting after 5 minutes), then drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Turn the heat under the clams to medium; add the pasta and cook for a minute or so, stirring and sprinkling with salt, pepper, and the remaining ¼ cup oil. Add a bit of the reserved cooking water if the mixture seems dry (which is unlikely). Stir in the parsley, taste and adjust the seasoning, and serve.