Ingredients:
3/4 pound linguini
Salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tin flat anchovies, drained, dried and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbl fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 (15-oz) can whole baby clams, with their juice
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/2 cup chopped green olives
1/4 to 1/2 cup pasta water
1/4 to 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add lots of salt just before adding
the linguini – boil until not quite done (al dente) as it will cook more in
the sauce – put a cup next to your strainer in the sink and save about a half cup of the pasta water.

While water is coming to a boil, prepare all your ingredients. Drain the clams reserving the liquid in a glass. Rinse the clams well to remove any lingering sand. Drain, blot on paper towels and chop the anchovies pretty small. (There is no taste of anchovy by the way in the finished dish and they “melt” in the cooking so you won’t see them either.) Pull the thyme leaves from their stems – give them a quick chop, mince the garlic, dice the green pepper and olives, chop the parsley.

In a large skillet (pic above has 2 servings taken out) over medium heat, add oil, anchovies, garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until anchovies melt into the oil and disintegrate completely. Stir in the wine (I used Mad Housewife California chardonnay this time) then the green peppers and olives. Then add the clams and their juice, being careful not to pour in the sand that has settled at the bottom of the glass. Turn the heat up briefly to bring to a boil, then turn it back down to medium and add the drained pasta. Toss well and cook for 3 to 5 minutes – the linqini with absorb much of the juice, if it looks too dry add some of the pasta water. Add parsley and serve with some freshly grated parmesan to taste and a bit of warm crusty artisan bread.

Serves 4 or 5

NOTE: Mad Housewife Chardonnay is great in and along side this dish. This makes a lot of pasta, if you decide to cut the recipe in half, only cut the amount of pasta in half – it’ll be decadent and even yummier with half the noodles!