Did I ever tell you about the time I locked my sister Molly in a suitcase?
Yeah. That happened. I was thinking about this story the other day which led me to thinking about beaches and shellfish which led to the making of linguine and clams.
So let me tell you about the time I locked my sister in a suitcase. I don’t actually remember the incident. The memories I have are of the constant retelling of the story by my dad. He thinks it is hilarious and embellishes it even more with every telling. The gist of it is that we had gone on a beach vacation to the Jersey Shore when Molly and I were about 3 and 5 years old. As you can imagine, my parents were tired when we made it back home and just left the suitcases in one of the bedrooms for the sandy laundry to be dealt with later.
My parents were hanging out in the kitchen and suddenly noticed that it was very quiet. If you happen to have small children, you know that silence = trouble. It was absolutely true here. My dad made his way upstairs to check on my juvenile delinquency angelic activities. He saw me and asked where Molly was. I did the IDK-head-tilt-shoulder- shrug about the same time that the suitcase started jumping up and down. My dad went all WTF looked at me, looked at the suitcase, and walked over and opened it. Out jumped Molly, mad as hell and not going to take it any more.
Have I mentioned that Molly was always a biter? Oh yeah, girl had a set of teeth on her and wasn’t afraid to use them. She came straight at me with those fangs bared. She grabbed my arm with both hands and got ready to go in for the kill. My dad said, “Molly, don’t you bite your sister” or something along those lines (depending how my dad remembers it) and to hear my dad tell it, she wanted to bite me so bad she had her teeth ready to sink into my flesh and was shaking her head back and forth like a mad dog. “Molly….” said my dad and she finally let go.
So this crazy walk down memory lane is an explanation for my desire to make linguine and clams. And I can’t help wondering if you have ever locked your sibling in in suitcase?
I can’t believe this hot mess innocent little angel ever did.
Linguine and Clams
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound linguine
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 10 cloves garlic minced (adjust to your preference)
- 1 cup white wine
- 1/2 pound littleneck clams cleaned and left in shells
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- Freshly grated Parmesan and diced tomatoes to garnish
Instructions
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Bring a pot of water to a boil and add linguine, cook until not quite al dente
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In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat, add garlic, cook until soft (2-3 minutes) careful not to burn
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Pour wine into same pan and bring to a boil
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Add clams, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook until clams steam open (about 8 minutes, depending on size)
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Remove clams from pan, arrange in a pasta bowl, add pasta to wine/garlic sauce and cook for a minute or so.
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Transfer pasta to the bowl of clams
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Garnish with Parmesan, parsley, and diced tomatoes if desired