Quick Linguine

Quick Linguine For When You Don’t Have Time

Even though I'm going through hard times these days, I've been in good spirits. Maybe it is the pleasant optimism of my housemates rubbing off on me.

This wasn't always the case. I use to get down in the dumps a lot. One day a couple of years ago was a good example. This particular day was a rough one. On the way home I was really down.

To lift my spirits, I convinced myself to go to the Y and run. For the previous month or so, I haven’t been that good about working out. Damn, who am I kidding! I think I ran only three times in the previous two months. Well this day I decided to run to lift my mood.

Since I was out of practice, I only made it 2-1/2 miles until my lungs gave out, but that was a start. I had to be a sight to see! I looked like someone dumped a bucket of water on me. 

The pretty young 20-something on the treadmill next to me, kept giving me disgusted looks (ok, I burp when I run, and I had onions on my hot dog for lunch). I thought about offering to give her a hug, but I was afraid it wouldn’t be well received. Oh well.

By the time I got home I felt a lot better. I got my appetite back, but it was getting late so I wasn’t ready for cooking anything elaborate. I made this quick linguine and the sauce took less time than it took to boil the water. The five cloves of garlic are for that girl, just in case she gets the treadmill next to me tomorrow.

1/2 cup of your best olive oil
5 large cloves of garlic, smashed and minced 

1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 small can of anchovies
1 (tuna sized) can of chopped clams
2 tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 cup of white wine
1 cup (approximate) of water
1 pound linguine cooked al dente

Preparation

Put pasta water on to boil. Throw a palmful of salt in the water, just in case your blood pressure is getting a little low.

Heat a medium sized skillet, add the olive oil, the garlic and the red pepper flakes. Open the can of anchovies, give them a rough chop and add them to the oil. Stir until the anchovies begin to break up and add the flour. Stir the flour until evenly mixed with the oil. Keep stirring for another minute.

Add the clams (with their liquid), thyme, oregano and white wine and bring to a boil. Stir and you will see the sauce will get thick real quick. Add the water (or chicken stock), a little at a time. Bring it back to a boil after each addition of water until the sauce has the consistency of gravy and holds it as it simmers. Turn off the heat and let it rest until the pasta is cooked.

Serving

You serve this real simply. Just get a big bowl and dump the drained pasta into it. Pour the sauce over it. If you didn’t invite anyone over for dinner, use the bowl as your plate. If you must share, use it as a serving bowl.

Along with the linguine, you want a good crisp salad with a garlicky Caesar dressing. Spinach, sautéed in olive oil with chopped garlic is also nice. 

As long as we are trying to impress that girl at the Y, why not have some garlic bread to soak up the sauce. Any good crisp Italian white wine will go well with this. When you work up a sweat tomorrow, all the girls will take notice!