Cristina Cooks Linguine and Baby Clams

Ingredients:

½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
2 6-½ ounce cans of minced clams in clam juice
2 cups Italian parsley loosely packed and chopped fine
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1-pound linguine
2 tablespoons table salt
5 quarts water
8 lemon wedges
Fresh Baby Clams
Olive oil
Garlic
Red pepper flakes
⅓ cup of dry white wine
Bottle of clam juice

Directions
Heat a saucepan over medium high heat for 30 seconds add the oil and heat for 1 minute. Add the garlic, parsley and red pepper flakes and sauté until the garlic starts to turn golden. (Be careful and don’t burn the garlic because the sauce will taste bitter. If this happens you need to discard and start again.) Add the two cans of minced clams with the juice from the can. Turn the heat to medium low and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and set aside.
Bring 5 quarts of water with 2 tablespoons of table salt to a boil in a large pasta pot. Add the linguine and cook the pasta al-dente. (Al dente is a description of pasta and vegetables cooked a certain way. It retains a firm texture still offering a resistance to the bite but cooked through. I usually cook the pasta a minute less than the directions on the box suggest. All pasta should be cooked this way) Drain the pasta and give it two good shakes but it’s not necessary to drain all of the water out. Place the linguine back into the pot you boiled it in and add the clam sauce and lemon juice. Turn the heat up to medium, add the clam sauce and mix using tongs to coat the pasta for 30 seconds. Pour the linguine with the clam sauce into a heated pasta bowl and serve. (Tip) To heat the pasta bowl, about 2 minutes before the pasta is ready, take 4 to 5 ladles of the boiling pasta water and pour it into the pasta bowl and let it sit while the rest of the pasta continues to cook. Make sure to pour the water out before you add the Linguine. Serve with a wedge of lemon on the side.