Clams & Bucatini for 1

Truth be told, there are not enough oysters in the sea to have made me happy this week. Dan has been away on business, and I have been home alone–a condition that makes me more phobic and insomnia-plagued than any other. I’ve dreaded it for weeks, and the past four days have been tough for me. When I first learned he would be going, I planned to go stay with my sister in Rhode Island, but I had restaurants to visit here and deadlines to meet. Besides, I just didn’t want to be that wimpy person who doesn’t even attempt to tackle her fears. So I stayed.

I tried to emphasize the positive by planning a date with myself last night, the final night of Dan’s trip. I’d make a meal I love but Dan hates: clams and spaghetti. I’ve eaten this dish in restaurants countless times but never made it at home. Dan and I eat together 99.99 percent of the time, and I’m not going to force it on him. So that was my chosen project, only I picked up bucatini instead of spaghetti. You know, these long skinny pasta tubes:

Here’s my recipe, heavy on the garlic and red pepper flakes, because I was cooking for me and that’s what I like.

Spicy Clams & Bucatini for Me

Serves 1 (but doubles easily)

15 cockles (or littlenecks), rinsed and scrubbed
4 ounces bucantini (or other long skinny pasta shape)
2 plump garlic cloves, mashed to a paste with a heavy pinch of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 sun-dried tomatoes, minced
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons minced parsley

Soak the cockles in a large bowl of cold water mixed with 1 tablespoon of baking soda for 1 hour. (My cockles are taking this bath in the photo above.) This helps the critters purge themselves of any sand or grit they harbor.

After the cockles have soaked, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and add the pasta.

Meanwhile, add the garlic, pepper flakes, and oil to the bottom of a pot or skillet over medium-high with a tight fitting lid that is large enough to accommodate the pasta later. Fry this mixture for about a minute, add the cockles, the tomatoes, and the wine, bring to a boil, lid, and reduce to simmer.

In about two minutes, the shells will start popping open. Remove the cockles as the shells open and put them aside in a bowl. (I did this because overcooked shellfish are gross; I didn’t want them exposed to heat for one minute longer than needed.)

Add the pasta (which should be roughly halfway cooked by now) to the simmering wine and clam broth that entered into the equation when the shells opened and a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking liquid. Continue cooking the pasta about 5 more minutes, until it is al dente. Feel free to add some more pasta cooking liquid if it appears to be drying out.

When the pasta is cooked, return the cockles to the pot and add the parsley. Toss to combine. If you are keeping a food blog, snap some photos as fast as humanly possible because you really want to eat this one while it’s good and hot.