I actually cooked this dish about a month ago and just didn’t bother to write it up at the time. But, it was so delicious that I knew I needed to make it again to share it.
We almost always ~ like 99.9% of the time ~ cook seafood on Saturday. It seems sacrilegious at this point not to have seafood on Saturday. We’ll have seafood on other days too, but Saturday is seafood. One Saturday, I hadn’t figured out what I wanted to make for dinner that night, so I started musing on options. The first thing that occurred to me was that it had been ages since we had clams for dinner. Once I had the seafood figured out, the rest fell into place pretty quickly.
With asparagus in season, I navigated toward that. It just sounded like such a delicious addition to a seafood pasta dish! But, I didn’t want this to be a typical clam and linguini dish… although feel free to swap out the bucatini with linguini! I love bucatini, though, because it let’s more of the sauce coat the noodle, inside and out. And, it has a really lovely texture.
So, not wanting this to be a typical clam and linguini dish, I decided to make this with pesto sauce! Last summer, I made a ton of homemade pesto sauce from my end-of-summer basil, which I froze and have steadily used up over the winter… one more jar left! Just in time for fresh summer basil plants!
Besides adding bacon, I also took this recipe to the next level by adding lemon zest and juice. The combination of lemon and pesto with the saltiness from the bacon and a pop of heat from red pepper flakes… wow, this dish is so so so delicious!
A couple tips, tricks, and alternatives. First, I used unsweetened almond milk for the sauce. Not a lot. Only half a cup to give a slight, but not too strong, of a cream sauce. I really like using almond or cashew milk for cooking. It’s significantly less calories and you really can’t tell the difference!
If you don’t want to buy fresh clams, that’s fine! Some stores sell pre-cooked, shucked clams that are more fresh than canned clams. These make a great alternative to fresh clams! Or, you can add more canned clams! Just only add the liquid from one can and drain off the remaining cans. How many cans? Well, if I took this short cut, I would probably add two or three additional cans ~ so, three to four in total, with reserving only one can of liquid!
If you do use fresh clams, I recommend letting the clams sit in cold water filled with a couple good dashes of pepper, which we swear helps clear out any grit in the clam shells! Most places sell debearded clams, but it’s pretty easy to clean those off by pretty much tearing them off at the corner.
Lastly, I call for a TON of garlic. And I recommend using the amount I call for. I don’t feel like it tastes overly garlicky at all. If you are not a fan of garlic, I understand if you cut it back significantly, but if you have no feelings either way about garlic… use a lot! It’s really good!
This dish is super easy to make, coming together almost in the time it takes to cook the pasta! And this is such a nice way to enjoy fresh asparagus!
Enjoy!
Clam & Pesto Bucatini with Spring Asparagus & Bacon
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Seafood
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
2 dozen little neck clams, cleaned and beards removed
1 lb asparagus, ends trimmed off and cut into thirds
6 slices bacon, roughly chopped
16 oz bucatini (substitute with linguini, if desired)
2 shallots, minced
15 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup flour
½ cup milk (substitute with unsweetened almond milk, if desired)
5 oz canned baby clams with liquid
2 lemons, zested & juiced
pinch red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
Instructions
Cook the bucatini according to the package; rinse with cool water and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until just turning crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Leave the bacon fat in the saucepan and add the asparagus. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until just starting to char on the outside. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
Sprinkle the flour over the top and stir until fully saturated. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined. Add the canned clams with the liquid, the lemon zest and juice, and the cooked bacon. Stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and a good pinch of red pepper flakes.
Bring the sauce to a simmer then add the little neck clams. Cover and cook until the clams open, occasionally removing the lid to stir the sauce and clams. Remove the clams as they open to avoid over cooking. Once all the clams have opened and been removed from the saucepan, add the bucatini to the sauce and use tongs to toss together. Let the pasta heat through before serving.
Dish the pasta evenly among bowls and then divide the clams. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Keywords: clams and linguini, clams and pasta, pesto pasta, pesto clams, clams and pesto pasta, spring asparagus, asparagus and pasta, clams and bacon, clams and asparagus
