From Chris Prosperi: Most of us grew up having Progresso canned clam sauce on spaghetti; we dumped a can into a saucepan, heated it and mixed in the linguine. That was it, and we ate it happily. What would it taste like if we made it today? What does time do to memory?
We decided to find out, and since our gang believes in doctoring canned and jarred stuff for convenience and taste, Faith charged me with jazzing up Progresso. As you’ll see here, a key is adding extra clam broth to give the sauce stronger clam flavor. I have to say, this was one fun assignment.
Ingredients
- 1 pound linguine cooked and strained
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 strips bacon minced
- 1 cup onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic smashed
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme dried
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 can Progresso clam sauce
- 1 10 ounce can baby clams
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup parsley fresh, chopped
- 1 lemon juice fresh
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Servings:
Instructions
- In a large sauce pot over medium heat add the olive oil, minced bacon, chopped onion, and smashed garlic. Cook stirring occasionally until mixture is soft and fragrant about 5 minutes. Add the dried thyme and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute more.
- Pour in the white wine and bring to a simmer. Lower heat and reduce wine by about half. Drain the can of clams and set clams aside. Next, add the Progresso clam sauce and juice from the clams to pot and return to a simmer. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Whisk in the butter and parsley. Then add the baby clams and pasta and cook for 45 seconds. Add the juice of 1 lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated pecorino cheese.
