Recipe: Tom Cruise's Linguine with Zesty Red Clam Sauce

Tom Cruise's
Linguine with Zesty Red Clam Sauce

Makes about 4-1/2 cups of sauce
Serves 6

Paul Newman This is not your typical red clam sauce. You use freshly steamed clams here, served in their shells, in a light tomato sauce heady with garlic, that is peppery, too.

To crush garlic, use the same technique you do to peel it. First separate the cloves from the head. Put the flat side of a knife down on one garlic clove at a time and with your other hand smack the knife right over the clove. This should split the garlic peel with one whack. If it doesn't, try again. Remove the peels and use the cloves whole.

Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup capers, undrained
2 cups chopped parsley,
plus 1/2 cup additional for garnish
2 cups chopped plum tomatoes
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pasta
1 pound linguine

Clams
30 littleneck clams, scrubbed
1/4 cup chopped garlic
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup vegetable broth or water

To make the tomato sauce:
Heat the oil in a large saucepan until hot. Add the garlic and capers, then carefully add the parsley. Stand back because the oil may spatter. Add the tomatoes, lemon juice, wine, pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook according to the package directions until firm but tender.

While the pasta is cooking, steam the clams. Place the clams in another large pot with the garlic, wine, and vegetable broth. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, shaking the pot, until all the shells are open. Leaving the open clams in the pot, drain off all but 1/4 cup of the steaming liquid and stir it into the tomato sauce. Cover the clams and keep warm while preparing the rest of the dish.

Drain the linguine and add to the tomato sauce. Cook over high heat for about 4 minutes to heat through.

Divide the pasta among 6 heated bowls. Top each serving with 5 clams and garnish with the remaining parsley.

Newman's Own Cookbook
By Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner
Simon & Schuster
Hardback, 240 pages, $25.00
Publication Date: November 1998
ISBN: 0-684-84832-5
Recipe Reprinted by permission.