Benjamin Golub’s blog

Megen just cooked up what has to be her best meal yet. We had delicious grilled clams in Vietnam and had been itching to make our own clam dishes lately. So after reading up on recipes we came up with our own.

The sauce is simple: just tomatoes (fresh from the farmer’s market), garlic, and onion plus whatever seasonings you feel like (basil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and sugar). We make the same sauce often but this time added some red pepper flakes to compliment the clams.

To make the clams first clean them by placing them in water for 20 minutes. They’ll breathe in the fresh water and spit out any dirt and sand that’s stuck inside. Then give them a good scrub and throw out any that are open or cracked. In a large pan cook over medium heat a tablespoon of butter and some garlic (don’t burn it!). Add the clams, making sure that no clam is covering another one or they might have difficulty opening up. Cover them with the butter and garlic before adding a 1/4 cup of white wine per dozen clams. Cover the pan with a lid and wait 4 - 6 minutes or until the clams are open. Throw out any clams that didn’t open up; they were probably dead and not safe for eating.

Add the sauce left from the pan with the clams to the tomato sauce. Place the clams over spaghetti and cover with the sauce. Enjoy with a nice wine. Click the link below for more photos.