Angel Hair Pasta with Creamy Tomato & Clam Sauce

I made this tonight.  It was spectacular and perfect.  I will be making it again and probably often.

Angel Hair Pasta with Creamy Tomato and Clam Sauce
Ingredients

• Angel Hair Pasta (1lb)
• 2 cans minced, canned Clams: reserve the juice from one can, strain the other
• 1-2 Tbsp. Minced garlic
• 1 med. White Onion, diced
• 1 Can of diced tomatoes (or fresh Roma Tomatoes 1 & 1/2 cups of diced or sliced )
• 2 Fresh Lemons or 1/2 cup lemon juice
• ¼ C. Cooking Sherry
• 1-2 cups Cooking Wine of choice: I used White Cooking Wine: We don’t drink and so do not have this on hand.  However, if you do, feel free to use regular wine as you please.  Adjust your salt accordingly.
• Black Cracked Pepper to taste
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• 1 Can Chicken Broth
• Water as needed

As you please:

• 4 Tbsp Heavy Cream
• Fresh Basil (10 leafs) chopped

Directions
Makes 6 servings…unless you love it…and then it makes less… ;)

In a large sauté pan:

In Olive Oil, sauté the diced onion, when somewhat translucent add in your garlic.  Add in 1 Tbsp of butter and continue to sauté.

When garlic is aromatic and onions are cooked, add in can of broth (or equivalent in bouillon/water), and un-drained can of minced/chopped tomatoes.  Bring to a simmer.

Separately, in a glass dish: add in minced clams and juices.  Add 4 Tbsp. of lemon juice and black cracked pepper to taste. Mix.  Add in to simmering sauté.

Add ¼ C. Cooking Sherry.  Stir, continue to simmer. Add in additional Tbsp. of butter.  Once the butter has melted, pour in White Cooking Wine.  Let simmer 5-8 minutes, while you work on your salad and salad dressing.

Taste for salt, add as desired.  Because I used cooking wine, which is already sodium rich, I did not add in very much additional salt at all.  If you are using regular wine, you may need to adjust.  Add in additional lemon juice as desired per your taste.

(If you choose to add in fresh Basil, which I did not have and so did not do, now would be the time to add it to your sauce.)

Cook your Angel Hair.  This takes 3-4 minutes.  Be ready with your strainer, however reserve about 2 ladle-fulls of the starchy pasta water.  Add these in to your sauce, and let continue to simmer while you handle the pasta.

Bring your sauce down to a very low simmer.  Just FYI: this brothy mixture is absolutely delightful.  Make sure you take a couple-three spoonfuls to taste to adjust flavors, and frankly…just to enjoy it.  It would be easy enough to get some crusty artisan or French bread and butter and just eat it as a soup…but that would be a different recipe then, wouldn’t it? ;)

Next: Choose one of the following two options:

1: Leave the brothy sauce as is.  Put your angel hair in a dish, or back in the pot, and pour the sauce over the top, mixing all together.

OR

2: Add heavy cream into the brothy sauce 1 Tbsp. at a time, stirring in until you have added all 4 Tbsp.  Once incorporated, combine the angel hair with the sauce.  If you wanted to you could make this a much richer, creamier sauce by adding additional cream.  This was not my desire at this time.

Done.  I served it with French bread and a green salad with a homemade creamy Italian dressing.

p.s. IF you have any leftovers, and you put them in the fridge…they taste great cold at about 11:45 p.m. while in the midst of buzzing around the house doing miscellaneous things.

Happy Eating.  :D