4ouncesdried linguinepreferably a nice Italian bronze extruded variety like Rustichella or Masciarelli, but in a pinch, use whatever
1lbmanila clams
4ouncesfresh chanterelle buttonsleft whole, washed if needed, trimmed and cleaned
2tablespoonsunsalted butterfor the sauce
3tablespoonsshallotdiced ¼ inch
2tablespoonolive oil or cooking oil
2teaspoonsminced garlic
Fresh sliced chivesto taste
¼cupdry white wine
½cup canned clam juice
Dash of fresh lemon juiceto taste
1small handful chopped Italian parsley
Instructions
Rinse the clams and inspect them: look over each clam and make sure it's alive, they should be closed, but will occasionally very slowly open and close to respire. Bring a a gallon of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Add the linguine to the pot and stir to prevent sticking. Meanwhile, heat a 10-12 inch saute pan with the oil, add the shallot and garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until translucent, stirring occasionally.
Add the clams and chanterelles and stir to coat with the oil, shallots and garlic, turn up the heat to medium-high and cook 4-5 minutes more, deglaze the pan with the wine, reduce by half, then add the clam stock and continue to reduce on medium-high. Drain the pasta, then add directly to the pan along with the butter. Stir the noodles to coat with the sauce, tossing occasionally.
Reduce the sauce until the butter has thickened it and it tastes really good, The sauce should be velvety and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Finally at the end, add a dash of lemon to taste and the parsley.
To plate, remove the pasta to preheated bowls with a tongs, reserving the clams, mushrooms and sauce in the pan. Twist the linguine into a tight mound, then arrange the clams on top of each pasta, drizzle over excess sauce, garnish with the chives and serve immediately (discard any clams that don't open).
Plating
Plating pasta is one of the most important parts of enjoying this (and all long pasta). First the pasta is removed with tongs and twirled in the bowl into a mound, only afterwords are the ingredients and sauce distributed. Long pasta should always be plated like this.