SEA FOOD, EAT IT!

Here’s a great and easy recipe that I made recently – it was perfect and included fresh local seafood purchased from Carawan’s in Kitty Hawk.

I followed a recipe in which you saute the clams (shell and all, no need to pop them open) in olive oil with minced garlic. It was very easy and produced a very tasty dinner. Here’s the rest of the recipe with my embellishments, courtesy of Mario Batali from Epicurious.com.

12 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

3 1/2 dozen local cherrystone clams (or littleneck clams) scrubbed

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if you want it spicier)

1 cup dry white wine

1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes tomatoes tomatoes in juice, juice reserved and tomatoes coarsely chopped

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

In large pot over moderately high heat, combine 8 quarts of water to boil and salt. Bring to boil, then add linguine and cook according to package directions (DO NOT OVERCOOK).

Meanwhile, in large sauté pan over moderately high heat, heat 6 tablespoons olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add garlic and sauté until just golden, about 30 seconds. Add clams and 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes and sauté 1 minute. Add wine, tomatoes and juice, and 1/2 cup parsley and simmer, uncovered, just until clams open, 7 to 8 minutes.

Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain linguine and add to pan. Simmer, tossing occasionally, until linguine is just tender, about 1 minute. If necessary, add some of reserved cooking water to keep moist. Remove from heat. Add remaining 2 tablespoons parsley, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and extra-virgin olive oil, tossing to coat.

Transfer to serving dish and serve immediately with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano. A tossed salad and warmed french baguette pulls it all together!