Linguine With Clam Sauce

1. Stage

Separate the clams from juices: Open the can of clams and strain the juice through a paper-towel-lined fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Set both the juice and the clams aside.

2. Stage

Cook the onion, fennel, garlic: Heat the olive oil in a large pot or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and fennel bulb and sprinkle with a little salt. Stir well and sauté until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Don't brown them. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for another minute.

3. Stage

Add the ouzo, boil down, add tomato paste: Add the ouzo (if you're using) to the pan and let it boil down until it's almost completely evaporated. Add the tomato paste and stir well to coat the vegetables. Cook for a minute or two.

4. Stage

Add the tomatoes, clam juice, salt, sugar, then simmer: Add the crushed tomatoes and the clam juice (strained from the can of clams) to the pot, along with a sprinkling of salt and the sugar. Stir well, turn the heat to a slow simmer and cook for 20 minutes. While the tomato sauce is cooking, heat a large pot of salted water for the pasta. If you would like a smooth sauce instead of chunky, ladle the sauce into a blender and purée it until smooth, then return to the pot.

5. Stage

Boil the water: When the pasta water comes to a boil, cook the linguine pasta according to package directions.

6. Stage

Cook the clams in sauce: Add the clams in the shell to the sauce pot. Submerge the clams in the sauce. Increase the sauce pot's temperature up to a low boil or a strong simmer. It should take 3 to 5 minutes for all the clams to open. As the clams open, remove them to a bowl. Remove the clam meat from all but a few of the shells which you will want to save for a garnish. (Or keep the clam meat in the shells, your choice, we just find the dish easier to eat if most of the clams are already out of the shells.)

7. Stage

Drain the pasta: Add it to a large bowl.

8. Stage

Add the clams, fennel fronds to sauce: Add the canned clams to the pasta sauce and return the formerly live clams to the sauce as well. Add the chopped fennel fronds and stir to combine. To serve , ladle some sauce into the bowl with the pasta and mix well to combine. Use tongs to put some pasta on each plate, add a small spoonful of clam sauce on top and garnish with a few of the clams that are still in the shell. Serve at once.