Linguini with Clam Sauce

We had company for dinner Saturday night before a show at the Liberty. It was a take on the early married company dinner of a huge salad, spaghetti, garlic bread and jug wine.

But we're not early married and so being a bit more "sophisticated", dinner was still a huge salad, but the pasta was linguini with white clam sauce, and the wine was not in jugs but in bottles. Bread was a home boule. Dessert was a rustic apple crostada.
We had a nice crowd and so two big platters of pasta were served. And there was very little left.

It's an easy recipe and went together very quickly. A perfect easy dinner before the big show!

Linguini with Clam Sauce

1 pound linguini
salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 t. dried thyme leaves (or 1 T. fresh)
1/2 to 1 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
15 ounce can whole baby clams, with their juice
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and the linguini and cook to al dente.

In a large skillet, add oil, garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. Stir for a little while (don't let the garlic burn). Add wine to the pan and give the pan a shake. Add clams and their juice. Drain pasta and add it to the clam sauce. Toss and coat the pasta in sauce with clams until the pasta absorbs the flavor and juices, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt, add parsley and serve.