The two don't go together in my mind, although seperately are divine. If you are going to serve them both, serve them seperately in courses, and add a salad course. Pasta first, then the
chicken, then salad as is most common in the italian tradition.
The
chicken should probably be served with a vegetable, sauteed spinach would be nice for example.
Canned clams will give you a canned tasting sauce, no matter how hard you work to prepare it. Better of with real clams, you can find them in your local fish market, although some upscale grocery stores may have them as well but in my opinion are not always of the best quality. When choosing your clams make sure they're tightly closed. If they are open try to close them... if they close easily they are still alive and fresh. Here's my clam sauce method.
- 6 to 12 cherrystone clams per person (I lean towards the 12 cause I love 'em).
- 2 shallots chopped
- 3 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 cup dry white wine or vermouth
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- big glug of olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 handful fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
1. Pour the olive oil in a wide pan with a lid, and cook the onions on medium low heat until translucent. Add the garlic slices about halfway through, and the chili flakes.
2. Turn the heat up to high and add wine. Wait for it to cook out a bit.
3. Add the clams and cover. After 2-4 minutes take out each clam as soon as it opens. This prevents the clams from overcooking and becoming chewy. Set aside the clams and cover with foil.
4. Add the butter to the remaining sauce in the pan, and freshly grated pepper, salt to taste (I usually find that it doesn't need much salt).
5. In the meantime your linguini should be just cooked through aldente. Add it to the sauce along with some of the coooking water. Let the pasta cook in the sauce a little.
6. Turn off the heat and toss in the fresh parsley. Serve in individual pasta bowls with the clams on top, and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil right before serving.
If you want saffron you could add it in step 2.
