ANGEL ADDENDUM




Virgin of the Angels, 1881 by William Adolph Bouguereau, The Getty Museum, Courtesy of Forest Lawn Memorial Park Association.









I haven't seen any this week, but then again, why would I need to? I have been kept safe and inspired to do good, so that's some weighty evidence right there.

Friday again, and here is the saucy counterpoint to the white clam sauce: red, naturally! The lord of the manor here prefers the white, but the youngsters actually prefer the red. The process for making this is much the same and either serves at least 4 (really hungry) people and most likely more. Remember, Italian food is also the most wonderful stuff for leftovers:

Red Clam Sauce

Angel Hair Pasta with Red Clam Sauce

1 lb. angel hair pasta (an ultra-thin spaghetti, but any long noodles will do)
2 or more cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup Olive oil
Plain tomato sauce - I use Hunts, either 4 small cans, 2 medium cans or 1 large - the point is, use roughly a quart, give or take.
2 cans chopped clams, 6.5 ozs. each (I use Snow's brand) with their juice!
red pepper flakes to taste
Parsley, basil and oregano to taste.
Good quality grated cheese (I use loccatelli and grate my own).

Start heating up a large pot of salted water for your pasta. In a separate saucepan, saute the garlic in the olive oil, till garlic is translucent (angelic!).
Add the red sauce, the clams with their juice and the red pepper and herbs. Keep this at a low temperature so the clams don't get tough.

When the pasta water is vigorously boiling, add the Angel hair, and stir it all up to keep it from sticking together. Fine, thin noodles like angel hair, capellini, and vermicelli all cook really quickly in less than 5 minutes, so don't run off!

When done, drain pasta, and serve in a platter, the cooking pan or other dish. I usually put a little olive oil on the dish first, and maybe drizzle a bit onto the pasta before pouring the clam sauce over all of it.

Accompany with a green salad, maybe some Italian bread and some sherbet or other light, icy thing for dessert. And revel in this delicious, magical time of year!