Clams and Mussels Linguine. Spanish Chorizo and a Lager Reduction.

Today is Canadian Turkey Day. Is it ok to question its legitimacy? It was instated in 1957. That’s like yesterday. Why call it Thanksgiving and not celebrate it with the US the same day? No idea. In any case, people do observe it and it’s a national holiday and a great excuse to celebrate and eat a lot. But today I’m under the weather with the Canadian flu, and I don’t know anyone celebrating it so I will not be doing much cooking other than mixing water with some powdered vitamin C. It also happens to be the day the Americas were discovered by Mr. Columbus a few centuries ago. This guy, the story tells, was an Italian sailor who worked for the Spanish. Sketchy. Anyways, not that I planned it, but here it is, an Italian dish with some Spanish flare on Columbus Day. It also happens to be “Cookbook launch” Day and yesterday it apparently was “You go, girl” Day.  Celebration mood up in here.  

Ingredients: (servings: 2 time: 45mins)

1 pound of live mussels.
1 pound of live manila clams.
1/2 Can of your favourite lager beer.
1/4 C heavy cream.
4 garlic cloves. Thinly sliced.
300g Linguine. Dry.
50g Spanish chorizo. Thinly sliced.
1 tbs sweet paprika.
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Splash of fresh lemon juice.
Chopped basil or garlic. I would prefer parsley, but only had basil 🙂

The lager reduction. In a cast iron deep pot add the beer and the bay leaves and reduce  on medium heat until syrupy.  In a separate pan on medium high, sear the chorizo for a couple of minutes until it browns a bit. Turn the heat off and immediately add the garlic. Toss around. Don’t let the garlic brown.

The pasta. Cook the pasta in boiling salty water until al dente.  Salty like the ocean. I pre soak dry pasta about an hour before I start cooking. Allows me to use less boiling water and the cooking time is a shorter. The cooking is also more even because the pasta is easily submerged in the boiling water without anything sticking out. Almost like cooking fresh pasta 🙂

The sea creatures. Bring the chorizo and garlic into the cast iron pan where you reduced the beer. Add a couple of Tbsp of pasta water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the clams and the mussels and allow to steam for about 5 mins or until all the shells are open.

The creaminess. Add the cream and the chopped herbs. Stir and cook for another 2-3 mins without a lid. Allow the sauce to thicken. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

The pasta finally comes back in. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the strained pasta and toss until all is well incorporated. Splash of lemon juice.

 

IMG_4086

IMG_4093

IMG_4084

IMG_4133

Buon apetito!  get it?? 😉

Wanna get more sous-vide cooking guides and cool cooking how-to’s in your mailbox? You know what needs to be done!


We never spam. You should only be getting updates when new content is posted on the site. We also respect your privacy. We don’t share your email address with anyone and you can unsubscribe anytime!

These might strike your fancy!

13 comments

  1. Don’t you have Canadian flu shots up there? Hopefully you’ll get better fast. I think my husband would really love this – I can say I’ve never reduced beer. Would Guinness be to strong for this?

    1. i dont think ive ever gotten a flu shot before 🙂 Im feeling better today, thanks Mimi. I think a lager might be too strong still, thats why I only used half a can. Next time, I’d use a pale ale. You could make it work with any beer, just picture the kind of beer you’d like to have while eating seafood

Leave me a comment! :)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.