Matt Molina's Linguine with Clams and Chiles

You may have, as I was, been charmed by Russ Parsons's profile of Matt Molina at the two Mozzas. The article may have, as it did for me, made your mouth water. You may have run, as I did, to the fish store on the way home to make his linguine with clams and chiles as soon as possible.

My question is: did anyone else lose all sensation in their lips, mouth and tongue after eating that dish, as I did and did and did?

I love spaghetti con le vongole - who doesn't? - and Matt 's idea of making a "pesto" of sorts out of hot peppers with which to sauce the dish seemed cunning. Since we're wimpy folk, I halved the amount of jalapenos called for, even de-seeded one, just for good measure, and then only used a quarter cup of the "pesto".

But when the jalapenos hit the hot oil and our apartment was instantly turned into some kind of pepper-spray purgatory, I realized, despite our precautions, that something might be going terribly, terribly wrong. Ben and I staggered around the place, yanking open windows and coughing piteously, but the painful stinging in our throats and lungs and nostrils wouldn't abate.

I went to the stove where the clams merrily steamed away and thought suddenly of this meal, destined for the trash. Is that what we faced tonight? A pile of slippery pasta and lovely, tender, delicate clams destined for the rubbish bin?

Well, dear readers, we did our best. We sat down at the table, armed ourselves with heels of bread and glasses of wine, and went to work. Tears started streaming down our face within a few bites, and then our noses followed suit. In the end, I couldn't handle it - I finished half my plate and realized that my lips, tongue and the insides of my mouth were completely swollen. Ben soldiered on for a few more bites, but even he had to surrender eventually. I couldn't watch as he threw out the rest of the clams and the gorgeous, briny sauce, rendered entirely inedible by all those bits of jalapenos.

So I went back and reread the recipe. Could it be that my jalapenos were hotter than the ones Matt Molina used? Could it be that he meant to say "coarsely chopped withOUT seeds"? One thing is for sure: 3/4 of a pound of linguine is definitely not enough for six people as a main course, so perhaps the 6 jalapeno-strong "pesto" was meant to sauce twice as much pasta? I don't know.

What I do know is that I never want to see another jalapeno again. And if you want to attempt this yourselves, all I can say is proceed with caution.

Ow.

Linguine with Clams and Chiles
Serves only those people with asbestos-lined mouths

Red chile 'pesto'
6 red jalapeños, coarsely chopped with seeds (yeah, I'd go with two here)
1/2  red onion, diced
1/4  teaspoon salt
1/4  cup olive oil

1. In a food processor, coarsely purée the chiles, onion and salt. With the machine running, add the olive oil in a trickle to make a coarse sauce. Makes about 1 cup.

Linguine and assembly
1/4  cup olive oil
3/4 pound pancetta, diced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3/4 cup red chile "pesto"
1/2 cup white wine
4 pounds manila clams, scrubbed
3/4 pound linguine (I'd double this)
1/2 cup sliced Italian parsley
3/4 cup (loosely packed) sliced green onions

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil with the pancetta over medium heat and cook until the pancetta is crisp and lightly browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain off half of the rendered fat and add the garlic. Cook until it is light golden brown, 3 minutes. Stir in the red chile "pesto," white wine and clams. Cover the pan and cook until all of the clams have opened, 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

2. While the clams are cooking, cook the pasta in a large pot of rapidly boiling, salted water until it is just al dente, 8 minutes.

3. Drain the pasta and add it to the clams. Place over high heat, ladle in one-half cup of the pasta cooking water and cook, stirring to mix well. Stir in the parsley and green onions over high heat; serve immediately.

Comments

[Mercedes]

Once again you're moving too fast for me.

First an update: after your glowing advice, I went to the grrenmarket yesterday to get the green gage plums for that crisp you raved about. I'm thinking of making it tomorrow, and adding pistachios to the topping, since I'm working with green things.

However, it was only after going to the market that I read the subsequent post about the delicious tomato-bread soup, which now tops the recipes-to-make list (sourdough in pappa-al-pomodoro, brilliant).

Finally, have I ever told you about the time I made rice dish with way too many hot peppers? It was waaaay too spicy, and I put leftovers in the fridge, covered with a sheet of aluminum foil. The next day, the foil parts that had been touching the rice had completely dissolved, yes the tin foil melted, from the spiciness. Ever since then I have lived in complete fear of hot peppers. You are braver than I.

[Lydia]

Oh, phoo -- your photo makes this dish look so tempting, but the torture of all of those jalapenos sounds awful. I love spicy food, but not when it inflicts pain.

[deb]

I learned something (from commenters, hooray) last time I griped about searing jalapeño-induced pain: they're completely unreliable. One will be so mild, you'll barely notice it (I can think of times I've used a whole one with seeds and wondered why I couldn't taste a thing) and another so hot that you'll cry, or I will at least. I ruined a dish a couple months ago with one single one. I can only imagine what six from a batch like that could have done!

[Kevin]

I saw the picture as the page started to load, and had to get up and go make something to eat.

[Mary]

I just got a batch of really, really hot jalapeños, too. My husband get hiccups that won't stop when the food is too spicy, so I was half laughing, half feeling bad all through dinner. Sorry you had to throw yours away, that's so disappointing.

[Christine]

I'm thinking maybe two de-seeded ones? This looks too fantastic not to try, but a bit milder on the chiles and I like hot food.

(And I made your plum crisp yesterday, subbing out some of the flour for oats...and my goodness, it's taking every bit of will power I have to not finish it off for breakfast and to save some for my boyfriend. Holy, that good. Although now I'm dreaming of one with pistachios on Mercedes influence above...and I HAVE pistachios. See what you've done?)

[Ed Bruske]

good reason to taste the chilies before you follow the recipe down a trail of tears. 6 jalapenos in any recipe sounds excessive.

[Ed Bruske]

good reason to taste the chilies before you follow the recipe down a trail of tears. 6 jalapenos in any recipe sounds excessive. And yes, most of the heat is in the seeds, but especially in the veins to which the seeds are attached inside the chili.

[Julie]

Sad because that picture looks totally delicious. But I'm a complete hot pepper wuss and I dial back all amounts of hot pepper in every recipe. I don't like my food to cause pain.

However, other than the excessive jalapenos it all looks good. I was planning to make clams and pancetta with spaghetti on Monday so maybe I'll try this recipe with a lesser amount of seeded jalapenos.

[mary (another one)]

I'll second Deb on the jalapenos being unreliable thing. I also notice that I seem to have more problems with them being too hot when I cook them, and I'm not exactly sure if that's coincidence or some kind of reaction from the cooking process (maybe we should ask Harold McGee).

I sometimes substitute serrano peppers, which I've found to be more consistent, but maybe it's just coincidence again.

The best solution I've found so far is to taste a bit of pepper and try to adjust, but I'll admit I'm too lazy and sometimes too poor a judge of heat for that to save me all the time.

[claudia]

oh this is too heartbreaking... i love this dish except for that hot thing. i would have wimped out early on and also been beyond sad to see it all get tossed...
do you have a recipe for the quintessential linguini in white clam sauce? i'm on the hunt...

[Sofia]

I was crestfallen to read about how this beautiful and delicious-looking dish turned out! My condolences...

On another note, I just read about that amazing tomato soup and am thrilled and anxious to try it! I also wanted to share a recipe for gaspacho (I'm obsessed and have made it 8 times this summer-- yes, eight). It's addictive and also incorporates bread (soaked in sherry vinegar). I adapted it from a recipe in the LA times earlier this summer (sorry, couldn't find the link!)

Gazpacho Sevillana
Serves: 6 to 8

3 pounds very ripe tomatoes (about 5 medium)
1/4 cup Sherry vinegar
1/2pound French bread, crusts removed, torn into small pieces (about 3 cups)
1 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
1 medium red pepper, roasted, peeled and roughly chopped
3/4cup water
1/3cup best-quality extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground white pepper to taste

1. Peel the tomatoes and cut them in half horizontally. Set a sieve over a large bowl and gently squeeze the seeds and juice out of the tomatoes, letting the sieve catch the seeds. Roughly chop the tomatoes, reserve the tomato water and discard the seeds. Add the vinegar to the tomato water, stir to combine, then add the bread, combining to moisten the bread.

2. Using a mortar and pestle, grind the garlic with the salt to form a smooth paste. Place the paste in the bowl of a food processor with the bread mixture and some of the tomatoes. Process until very smooth, then transfer to a large, nonreactive bowl. Process the remaining tomatoes with the cucumber, red pepper and water until very smooth. With the motor running, pour in the olive oil in a stream. Add the puree to the tomato-bread mixture, stir to combine and add salt and white pepper to taste. Chill for at least two hours.

[Fiona Kennedy]

I,too, saw the recipe and rushed to make it for dinner that night. Since his original recipe serves 6, I cut down the amount of peppers to 3 for my husband and I. I was nervous, but proceeded ahead with the recipe. Amazingly enough, our pasta had barely any heat at all! Could it be that we have milder chilis in Los Angeles than you found on the east coast?

[Luisa]

Mercedes - pistachios in a crumble crust sounds divine, please let me know how it works out. And your peppers melting tin foil sounds completely other-wordly! Who knows, peppers mystify me.

Lydia - phooey indeed. :)

Deb - I think you are totally right, you just never know what you're going to get. If I was a hardier lass, maybe I would have stuck my finger into the "pesto" and known to use less...

Kevin - ha! That made me smile.

Mary - hiccups from spicy food sounds just adorable... and much better than tears and mucus streaming down your face! :)

Christine - I'm so glad you liked the crumble. And with oats! Yum. As for the pasta, I say go for it, just tread carefully... start with just a few peppers and work your way up perhaps?

Ed - I guess if Matt's jalapenos were milder than mine, then 6 probably doesn't seem so nuts... Who knows. Interesting about the veins.

Julie - that sounds like a plan. I guess each pepper is a little bit of a crapshoot. Good luck! :)

Mary - I have also wondered about cooking hot peppers and if that makes the situation worse. It's not necessarily intuitive, that conclusion, but who knows. I'll dig around this weekend and see if I find anything out. Good to know about serranos being more reliable, though I think I've had my fill of heat for the next few weeks!

Claudia - my standard for this kind of dish is pretty basic - brown some garlic cloves in olive oil, throw in clams and a bit of wine, let them steam, then toss with cooked pasta, some reserved pasta water and a good amount of parsley... there's barely any "sauce", just that good clammy liquor. Sometimes I add a handful of super-sweet halved grape tomatoes when I first throw in the clams and wine - that's my favorite.

Sofia - the tomato bread soup was really stellar (I think we're making it again this weekend), but that gazpacho sounds incredible! If I can convince Ben's mother, maybe we'll try this instead. Thanks for posting it here! 8 times in one summer certainly is the mark of a good recipe.

Fiona - now this totally proves the point, I think, that jalapenos are completely unreliable specimens! I wonder if it's an East coast/West coast thing or just a complete fluke. Anyone?

[Victoria]

Hi, Luisa,

I always seem to be one post behind these days. I too LOVE spaghetti with clams. It's the solo meal I make for myself, and when I eat at an Italian restaurant for the first time, I order it to see if the restaurant is worth its salt or not. And I have figured out a way to make it at home the way I like it - fairly dry, with the sauce all but absorbed into the pasta, and a little (a little) heat from crushed red pepper. I'm sorry you wasted your gorgeous clams on a dish you couldn't even finish. But speaking of gorgeous...I headed out of town Thursday evening for a four-day weekend.I stopped at the uptown Fairway and garnered ricotta salata and a boule of sourdough bread. This morning I went to the local farm stand and procured the rest of the ingredients for your Tomato and Bread Soup (aka Pappa al Pomodoro, I presume). Fragrant just-picked basil, homegrown garlic, and tomatoes. Roma tomatoes. Red AND yellow Roma tomatoes. Vine ripened red and yellow Roma tomatoes harvested a short time before they were mine. I came home and followed your directions to the letter. Like you, I never considered peeling or seeding the tomatoes. I made a plain but delicious arugula salad to go with it and quaffed a crisp French Sauvignon Blanc as I ate it - probably a little warmer than it should have been. But I couldn't wait. The soup. Oh, the soup. What is the line from Alice in Wonderland? Soup, soup, beautiful soup. It was beautiful. It was wonderful. It was perfect. More than a keeper. A go-to recipe for late August. A recipe to start dreaming about in dreary March, as you're remembering spring flowers and summer sunshine. Thank you so much. I will enjoy this every year from now on.

[Julie]

Oooh, how I hate wasting time and food on a recipe that's inedible. I'm in complete agreement with Deb and Julie about jalapeños being a crapshoot. I've had exactly the same experience, where they can range from flavorless to incendiary. I'm a big coward about tasting them before I cook with them, but I guess it's the only way. And if they're the least bit hot, I tend to seed them, since I don't love the texture of the seeds anyway, in addition to my cowardice about the additional heat.

I also believe that the heat from the seeds tends to obscure the actual flavor of the peppers. This is probably what causes me to generally limit my hot pepper use to pinches of my favorite (seedless) Aleppo pepper flakes from Penzey's...or good New Mexican chile powder. I need to be in control of the heat...

[Grant]

I feel compelled to comment on this. I was recently at Osteria Mozza and actually had this dish. It was really great, very spicy but not in the way that burns one's mouth. On the menu they list the dish as "Linguini with clams, pancetta and spicy Fresno Chiles." Apparently fresno chilies are similar to jalepenos, but have a thinner skin and are less meaty. I don't know if this also makes them less spicy. As far as the serving size goes, at the restaurant, the pasta is served not at the main meal, but as the precursor to the entree. Perhaps that accounts for what seems like a stingy portion. I have a feeling that this recipe wasn't really tested.

[savory_fan]

I've just discovered your blog and have to say that it's looks clean and professional. I like your recipes and seducing photos. You have a new reader.

[Janet]

Hi Luisa,

I've been following your blog for awhile now, since seeing it listed in Tufts Magazine.

I know, too, that you were thinking you'd kept your blog long enough but then, thankfully, had a change of heart and decided to keep it.

Good recipes can be hard to come by. My grandparents were bakers (Swedish) and I've sometimes thought about creating a book of their recipes. They had a bakery in Ipswich, MA and they had customers from as distant as Worcester, MA.

I just love your recipes, though, I must admit, I did "wimp out" on this latest one (and was simply doubled over in laughter. You see, I love the way that you write, too!)

Keep up the good work!

Janet

[Luisa]

Victoria - wonderful! How poetic, and so lovely that your soup turned out as delicious as mine did. It sounds like you had a heavenly weekend. Delicious!

Julie - you know, that's what made me mad about those jalapenos, I couldn't even taste them (or anything else, for that matter) because that searing heat just killed my taste buds completely. Oh well. I've moved on :)

Grant - Ooh, lucky you to have been to Osteria! It wasn't open yet when I was in LA in March, so I contented myself with the Pizzeria, yummm. I have it on good authority that the dish was tested quite a few times, so I think that, in the end, it was just bad luck when it came to the chiles.

Savory Fan - well, thank you and welcome! Hope you enjoy poking around.

Janet - thank you! To have Swedish bakers as grandparents, how lucky. One of my favorite things to bake is a sweet Swedish braided bread flavored with cardamom (is it Pulla? Or is that the Finnish name?). You must have quite a repertoire!

[Jenn]

Hello, long time lurker & first time poster :)

I just wanted to say that the spiciness of a chile really depends on the amount of water the plant received. The drier the climate, the spicier the pepper is going to turn out. Something about concentrating that capsaesin stuff that I can't spell.

Sooo... yes, if you buy your peppers you're playing russian roulette :)