Clam pasta with saffron

Place the clams in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes to remove sand stored inside the shells. Remove the claims and rinse under cold running water to remove remaining sand. Discard any shells that are chipped, broken, or damaged in any way.

Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add the linguine pasta and a pinch of salt to the boiling water and cook until almost ‘al dente’ (about 1 minute less than the cooking time specified in pasta packet instructions).

Meanwhile, heat half of the olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add half of the garlic and chilli. Cook without browning the garlic for approximately 1 minute. Add the clams and pour over the white wine. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the clams have opened, noting that some clams may take a little longer to open. Discard any unopened clams.

Strain the clams and reserve the clam liquid. Remove the shells from approximately half of the clams (or all if preferable to serve without shells).

Reserve 2 ladles of the pasta cooking liquid before draining. Drain the pasta.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the remaining garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the Saffron threads, lemon juice and pasta cooking water to the frying pan. Bring the liquid to the boil, then add the cooked pasta. Toss well over the heat for 2 minutes to soak up lovely flavour. Season with salt to taste, then remove from the heat. Add the chopped parsley and toss to combine.

Divide the pasta among 4 serving bowls– Buon appetito!