Clams…

I was in Saratoga on Friday, picking up a delivery, and I had an eye appointment.

While driving I was thinking about what to make for dinner. This is where I do some of my best thinking.

In previous years, I wrote us about not eating meat on Fridays during Lent. Why, when I don’t follow Catholicism anymore?

As I’ve said before, it’s for completely nostalgic purposes, plus it makes me think of Lenten meals that are different from the other meatless meals I make.

I was looking for inspiration and I saw a website for vegan Lenten meals! I was like what the hell??

If you don’t eat meat in the first place, then what the fuck difference does it make if you follow a Lenten diet? Seriously! WTF!

I decided on spaghetti with white clam sauce. I always have in minced and chopped clams in the can, but this time I wanted to use fresh clams.

Fresh clams were easy to find in Saratoga and at me back about $16. I had everything else in and thought we couldn’t go out to dinner anywhere for $16 bucks. What a bargain!

I started by soaking the fresh clams in a bowl of cold water, as shown in the photo above.

Soaking the clams for an hour or so in cold water pushes any sand that was trapped inside the clams out. It worked too!

Next, I sautéed 4 cloves of minced garlic in olive oil. I added the zest and juice of one lemon.

I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I added some dried, just for color.

I added some white wine that I have just for cooking purposes and reduced it down. I added a pinch of red pepper flakes, kosher salt and pepper.

I let it simmer on low while I waited for the pasta water to boil and the spaghetti to cook.

I few minutes before the pasta was done, I cranked the heat up to high and added the drained clams and covered the pan tightly.

All the clams opened except for one dead guy which always makes me swear. Oh, really now? Lol.

I threw the spaghetti on top of the clams and added a few thinly sliced pats of butter instead of a whole stick as I used to do.

I served it up and we enjoyed it immediately. This is one of those meals that should be served right away before the clams and sauce get cold.

It was really delicious, affordable, and healthy. I can’t wait to make it again during the summer and serve it with a big salad and some grilled bread to dip in the tasty sauce.

I am thinking about making cod curry this Friday coming up. My friend Arthur made it for dinner last year and it was really good.

He is sharing his recipe with me. I’ll share it with you guys when I get it in case anyone is looking for a dinner idea. ☺️