Clams vary in brininess and the amount of liquid they’ll release during cooking, so you’ll need to adjust the salt and add pasta water accordingly. To prevent the sauce from getting too salty, we recommend a measured amount of salt for the pasta water. If possible, look for an artisanal dried pasta for this recipe—the rougher surface texture will catch the slippery sauce better. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
Ingredients
4 servings
2
12
4
2
2
2
½
⅓
2
12
½
2
Preparation
Step 1
Bring 2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal salt and 10 cups water to a boil in a large pot.
Step 2
Meanwhile, pulse 3 garlic cloves in a food processor until chopped. Add bread and pulse several times until fine crumbs form.
Step 3
Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Add breadcrumb mixture and cook, stirring often, until crumbs are golden and crisp, 5–7 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add lemon zest, season with salt, and toss to combine; set aside.
Step 4
Wipe out Dutch oven. Using a mandoline if you have one (if not, use a really sharp knife), very thinly slice remaining 9 garlic cloves. Heat ¼ cup oil in Dutch oven over medium. Cook garlic, stirring often, until golden around the edges, about 3 minutes. Add anchovies, if using, and ½ tsp. red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until garlic is golden all over and anchovies are dissolved. Quickly stir in wine and simmer until only a couple of tablespoons of liquid are left in pot. Add clams and toss to combine. Cover and cook until clams are open, 5–7 minutes (about 4 minutes for cockles). Uncover pot and transfer clams to a medium bowl, leaving liquid in pot. If any clams are still closed, cover pot again and cook a few minutes longer, then transfer to bowl with others (discard any that have not opened at this point). Tent clams with foil.
Step 5
Cook pasta in boiling water 5 minutes. Using a ladle or heatproof measuring cup, scoop out about 2 cups pasta cooking liquid. Using tongs, transfer pasta to pot with clam liquid. Add 1 cup pasta cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Cook, tossing constantly and adding more pasta cooking liquid a splash at a time if needed, until pasta is al dente and sauce is glossy and thick enough to cling to noodles, about 5 minutes.
Step 6
Remove from heat. Add parsley and butter and toss until butter is melted. Sprinkle about one-third of breadcrumbs over pasta and toss to combine (you can add more or less depending on how much liquid is in bottom of pot—you want them to absorb some of the sauce but not make it dry). Give pasta a taste; you probably won’t need additional salt, but you can add some if you’d like. Divide pasta among shallow bowls and top with reserved clams, more breadcrumbs, red pepper flakes, and a drizzle of oil.
Leave a Review
Reviews (37)
Back to TopA lot to say on this one for me. It finally came together. Way too many steps. Next time I would substitute bread crumbs/ food processor for panko and chopped garlic. The clams weren’t left with enough fluid to steam them open, I had to add an extra 1.5 cups to open them. Delicious outcome, with an added unnecessary 45 minutes of work
James
11/18/2023
Simple and delicious. I love linguini with clams, I've tried many recipes, this one is the forever go-to. Anchovies correct, bread crumbs right, finish cooking the pasta in the clam sauce, almost can't use too much garlic and parsley. I threw in the juice from the lemon, along with the zest. Perfection...in my clam world.
John
Encinitas, CA
9/12/2023
My breadcrumbs weren't pulsed enough which led to some of them not being crispy, but other than that, I think this recipe is way better than some of the watery and acrid clam sauce I end up eating at my local Italian places. This recipe is now in my personal top 10. I'm so glad I have access to the good stuff now!
Leslie V
Houston, Texas
1/23/2023
This was a pretty good recipe for Linguine Vongole Verace (italian for this dish) - the anchovies really help boost the seafood flavor of this dish. However, even if you use less salt, if you put in anchovies, it pushes the saltiness over the edge. Next time I'll probably use 1 heaping teaspoon of salt in the pasta water - and taste it before using it in the second cooking of the linguine in clam broth. This time I used just 1 Tablespoon and it was still too much. For all those who eat it with parmesan: I won't tell, but it's an Italian seafood sin to use cheese lol. Thankfully, it's not needed in this dish - there's plenty of flavor.
Claire S.
New York City
11/14/2022
Fantastic. I’ve always wondered what my linguini and clams was missing compared to the best restaurant versions I’ve had, and I think it’s the anchovy, don’t skip it unless you have a really strong aversion or allergy. I went light on the breadcrumb and wish I put in a bit more pasta water. I also had to crush the bread in the food processor way more than a few pulses to get the desired size. I’m also glad I was very careful when browning the garlic, I’d err on the side of under cooking to avoid burning.
Tom
Los Angeles, CA
5/23/2022
This recipe is amazingly good. I served it to several foodie friends last night and they raved about how delicious it was. They all mentioned how often white clam sauce tends towards greasiness, but this version is anything but.
Seanne Jersey
Orleans, MA
11/1/2021
Fabulous. I usually end up a little disappointed with my linguine with clams so decided to actually follow a recipe this time. Added a can of clams right at the end just to boost the clam quotient and added parm and a squeeze of lemon at the end but other than that followed it to a T. Wish I'd kept the salt in the pasta water even less but otherwise was perfection. The breadcrumbs were a lovely touch. Will be by go to recipe from now on!
Alexandra Martin
Chicago IL
1/27/2021
I loved this recipe. It was relatively easy with a big payoff! We added parmesan when we served!
isabellecooks96
5/15/2020
Love this dish. Always a hit. Easy ingredients.
Anonymous
San Francisco
4/17/2020
Delicious recipe, used fresh clams off the beach. The garlic breadcrumb topping was everything!
Anonymous
Washington
4/16/2020
I have made many different linguine and clams recipes. This was by far one of the top. I will definitely make this one again and again.
Anonymous
Minnesota
3/1/2020
This really is a great recipe. Love the breadcrumbs. Need to be careful with the clam broth. I thought the more clambroth the better, but it is pretty salty if made from fresh clams. I can see why they say to use pasta water. I added more pasta and water to de-salt the finished product. Delicious.
Anonymous
Ohio
9/9/2019
so where is the rose and tomatoes? Eventually, in went two dozen little necks, a generous splash of rosé and, because it’s August, a big handful of sun gold tomatoes.
Anonymous
ct
8/27/2019
Made this for my family and it was a BIG hit. I left the breadcrumbs on the side for everyone to add as they preferred, and they definitely do soak up a lot of the broth. Also, taste the clam broth before adding any more salt - mine was perfectly seasoned and needed very little additional salt. This recipe for linguine with clams was definitely the best one I've tried (last attempt was ~10 years ago and there's a reason I haven't tried again since), and I can't wait to make it again. My dad is probably the toughest critic and he wanted seconds (which wasn't possible because we ate every last bite).
seoulmama
PA
8/26/2019
Made this dish last night, came out really good! Breadcrumbs added a nice texture, and thickened up the sauce when folded into the sauce. I had to add a touch more salt. The one thing this recipe is missing is lemon juice. This dish was screaming for acidity. I would recommend this dish to anyone just tweak it as you see fit.
Rich27
New Jersey
3/5/2019