Linguine with Clam Sauce

The parsley seems to be our best growing herb in the herb garden. When we planted it I thought I'd rarely use it, but it has been surprising how many recipes call for fresh parsley. Our daughter also got to take sprigs of it to day care to feed to the class guinea pig, Rosemary. The kids loved watching her munch away at it and the teachers appreciated the treat. Rosemary spent the weekend with us once and was in guinea pig heaven with all the fresh parsley she got to eat. But then, one day, we took parsley in. I watched as the kids fed it to her, and left feeling like it was just an ordinary day. Upon picking our daughter up, we all had notes in our mailboxes that Rosemary had passed away that day. Oh dear...my first thought, could it have been the parsley?? Oh please no. Hopefully Andrew did not put down some pesticide or slug pellets the day before, yikes! I read the note and talked to the teacher. She reassured me that Rosemary's demise was a result of heat stroke and not our parsley. Phew!

We are all going to miss little Rosemary. I can't pick parsley without thinking of her. So, when I made this recipe the other night I took a moment to mentally wish her well and apologize for not bringing parsley more often!

This recipe comes from a friend's mom. It's incredibly easy and so tasty. You can make it with fresh clams and fresh pasta, or use canned clams and dry pasta. Either way, it comes out great.

Serves 4
1 pound of linguine cooked
3 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons milk
2-3 garlic cloves minced
1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 10.5 ounce cans minced clams (or use fresh clams)
dash of red pepper flakes
dash of dried basil
Wondra flour

Saute garlic in butter and olive oil. Add clam juice only. Simmer 10 minutes. Then add milk, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, clams, red pepper flakes, and basil. Thicken sauce by adding more parmesan cheese and a small amount of Wondra flour. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve immediately