Linguine with Mussels & Clams!

As a courtesy to our good friends G-Money and C-Clear for that wonderful chicken dinner, I decided to make a Italian dish for dinner. I really admire Italian cooks, because I think they are generally great cooks, and make great food. Italian cooks have a way of creating food with so much passion and love. They put so much of their souls into their food, that I oftentimes think like there is no way I can make great Italian food because I'm not Italian. Its not that I don't invest much time and love into my food, I just think Italian cooking is too classy for me.

So with much pushing and boosting my self-esteem from my wonderful husband J Bird, I finally did it. What a wonderful feeling, to have someone that believes in your ability, more than you do yourself. I've had never as uncomfortable in my own kitchen as I was cooking dinner. I can only think of two reasons, first, this was my first time cooking Italian food and second, G-Money is a big Italian baby. Growing up with a mom that prepares her pasta sauce for three days, that alone gave me a freakin' chill (Wow the Pressure!) Oh well as J Bird always says "if it doesn't work out then we'll do it again". Well I'm sure there will be many more tries, but to end up this Italian adventure, everyone loved it! Yahoo! That was a relief! Now here is my simple recipe for Linguine Pasta with mussels and clams!

Ingredients:

1 lb of linguine pasta

1.5 lbs of mussels (scrubbed and cleaned)
1.5 lbs of manila clams (scrubbed and cleaned)
1 large shallots (chopped)
5 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 cup of white wine
3 Tbsp of olive oil
1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup of parsley (coarsely chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. In big pot boil water and cook pasta until al dente.
2. In another pan, heat olive oil over medium high.
3. Sauté shallots until translucent about 3 minutes and add garlic for another 2 minutes.
4. Add clams, mussels and wine then simmer for about 15 minutes with lid on.
5. Combine noddles with clam and mussel mixture.
6. Add in butter, pepper flakes, and parsley.
7. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Turn off heat.
9. Place in a platter and enjoy with friends and family!

-Love-