Pasta with Clams in White Wine Sauce

Hello and happy Friday. It’s Heather from the Flourishing Foodie, and I am here today to share a French-inspired recipe, from my recent travels to Paris. I was fortunate enough to stay with a good friend and her aunt, who lives just a few streets from the Arc de Triomphe and the busy street of Champs-Élysées. Situated between Ladurée and Pierre Hermé, I was spoiled with every possible type of macaroon imaginable. The trip was brilliant, the food perfect, what a wonderful city. While I was there, I learned how to make quiche with eggplant, olives, and goat cheese, moules-frites, an apricot galette and a fig tart. But, most importantly, I learned how to transform your basic spaghetti pasta into a French inspired dish with a creamy sauce, clams, and fresh arugula. You will be amazed at how easy it is to make.

 This recipe, shared by my good friend Chantal, requires a few simple ingredients; garlic, olive oil, cream, white wine, and pasta. Fettuccine or spaghettini noodles can be substituted for spaghetti, if you have them on hand. Depending on your part of the world, clams may not be readily available. If so, you can substitute mussels, or add some prawns. Most seafood will work with this recipe. You will need to ensure that you have enough sauce in the end, which can be remedied by adding some extra pasta water or wine to add volume. The fresh arugula gives a nice peppery taste and adds a beautiful color. The water from the clams mixed with the garlic, cream, and wine, provides the perfect sauce to accompany the clams. I love simple ideas, a few flavors, fresh ingredients. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Pasta with Clams in a White Wine Sauce
serves 4

Ingredients
2 - 3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups spaghetti noodles, cooked
1 lb clams
1 cup dry white wine
¼ cup cream
4 cups arugula, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a large pot, saute the chopped garlic in olive oil for a couple of minutes on low heat. Just enough to infuse the oil with the garlic flavours, but not enough to turn the garlic brown.

2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente.

3. While the pasta is boiling, wash the clams in cold water. Add them to the garlic and oil. Cook until the clams open. Discard any clams that do not open.

4. Add the white wine and cream to the clams. Let the clams simmer in the sauce, soaking up the flavours. The clams should lose roughly one cup of water into the sauce. Simmer the clams in the sauce until the pasta has cooked.

5. Just before serving, plate the pasta. Add some fresh chopped arugula to the clams and then scoop a generous serving onto the pasta. Drizzle with the sauce. Garnish with more chopped arugula and season with salt and pepper.