Chef John's Spaghetti with Red Clam Sauce Recipe

I made this two days ago and we almost came to blows over who got to lick the serving bowl. By popular demand, I am making it again tonight. I did not have a jar of pre-made marinara so I substituted a 14 oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and a 14 oz can of tomato sauce, and added 1 tsp. of Italian seasoning and 1 tsp. of salt. I'll make it that way again tonight. I'm going to add 1/2 c. of Kalamata olives too because we love them and I think they will go well. I can't wait to eat this again!!!

Yum! Great recipe for a quick and delicious meal. The only change was cooking the sauce much longer to reduce it to a desired thickness. After adding the wet ingredients, the sauce was thin and watery. Could be because I added the tomato sauce before the wine. As others have suggested, likely best to add the wine first and let it reduce before adding tomato sauce and water. For cheese I used a mild 12 month parmesan. Not as pungent as the Reggiano so it blends nicely with the savory flavor.

Excellent basic recipe. Tweaked to our preferences by adding more garlic, using 2 - 10 ounce cans of Cento clams, rinsing the tomatoes with the white wine, and undercooking 12 ounces of GF spaghetti by 2 minutes and finishing it in the sauce. So, so good. Thanks for the inspiration Chef John! Edit: my heritage is southern Italian on both sides and we've always put parmesan on seafood pasta dishes. Eat what you like!

This recipe takes longer to reduced to a thicken sauce -- -reduce the wine and clam juice first about 15 min and add rest -- let simmer another 20 min - it will become thicken sauce - I did add the noodles to sauce, instead on top and I liked that -- used about 1/2 t. red pepper flakes -- my bottled sauce was spicy red pepper -- added more basil and Italian seasoning - -will be making this again .

I mostly followed this recipe except I added one more can of clam drained and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes. The recipe was easy to make and didn't take a lot of time. Everyone in my family loved it, and it was a great change from using just the marinara sauce. I will definitely be making this again.

The written instructions are incorrect. The wine and juice from clams should be poured in and reduced before the tomato sauce and water.

What an amazing dish with incredible flavor! It’s has some bite from the red pepper flakes but adding some cheese helps to mellow out the spice a bit. Here are my recommendations: 1) if you or those eating this dish don’t like spicy foods, I would recommend reducing the red pepper flakes down to 1/2 teaspoon. 2) This dish on its own has more of a runny sauce. I happen to like a thicker sauce so I added 1.5 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with a couple of tablespoons of water.

Yet another Chef John winner. Made it twice and have to say that the quality of the wine make a significant difference in taste. After the first time making it I felt that it could use more clams. But the second time I cooked the spaghetti completely then spooned the sauce on top while serving. This ensured that each serving had lots of clams. Delish!

I made this yesterday for me and my husband. He absolutely love it! There are things that I would do differently. First I would definitely add more clams about 3 cans more. I also would sauté all of the ingredients in the white wine before adding the tomato sauce to infuse the flavors and unless you like your pasta with barely any sauce. I would add the spaghetti noodles to the sauce as you go. I feel a pound of noodles are too much as my noodles absorbed all of the sauce. So the next day I made another batch of sauce this time adding a teaspoon more of the anchovy sauce and more clams! Thanks for this recipe!

Completely LOVED this! The only thing I did different was use about 1/2 cup water (because I was planning on a longer simmer time) to clean out the marinara jar and 8oz clam juice for the 8oz wine. I simmered the sauce for close to an hour before I started the pasta water. Cooked the pasta (thin spaghetti) then added the clams to the sauce followed by the parmesan and chopped parsley. The BF loved it so much, he wants to use the sauce for a pizza! It was spicy, and so full-bodied of awesome flavor, that it needed nothing other than a crispy chunk of bead to make a impressionable meal! Thanks Chef, for making me look so good ;)

I have made this several times and it is always so good! This is a favorite dish for our family on Christmas Eve as we do not eat meat until Christmas Day when the advent fast is over. I made it last night and did not have ready made pasta sauce so I used a can of crushed tomatoes and a can of tomato paste with just as tasty results. We didn’t have anchovy paste, so I used a tablespoon or so of Vietnamese fish sauce which works very well. Instead of returning the pasta to the cooking pot after draining it, I use a very large sauce pan when making the sauce and add the drained pasta to the sauce. Thanks Chef John for this very easy and tasty recipe.

Fantastic recipe! Thanks Chef John for this and many other recipes that you have posted.

Quick, flavorful, and satisfying.

Even better than I hoped it would be.

This recipe just made my day so much better.

Followed recipe while watching video. Written recipe calls for sauce before putting in wine. Video instructions state the wine is put in before the clam sauce and tomato sauce which makes more sense. My hubby who is not a pasta fan even came back for seconds. Will definitely make again.

Thank you Chef John, beginner in the kitchen & this was a very easy & tasty dinner!

This was perfection on a plate.

With a tin of anchovies in the larder instead of paste I flattened and minced 2 small anchovies and instead of tomato sauce I used a can of diced tomatoes and a few sun dried tomatoes which needed eating up. I also added a tad of lemon zest toward the end for a bit of brightening. Thank you for the recipe. I will look for more recipes from you.

It's a good basic recipe. Two things: there is NEVER parmesan cheese in any kind of clam dish...it overpowers the very flavor you are aiming for. Same with basil. Save it for some other dish. A very small pinch of oregano is better suited. I love that you meld the sauce and pasta together instead of blobbing it on top and serving it, like most Americans do. Also, I might add a third can of clams since I love clams!