Tubetti with White Wine and Clams

Serves 6

I demonstrated this recipe on the morning program Live! with Regis and Kelly as part of a series in which Italian-American chefs cooked recipes from their childhood. It features many of my all-time-favorites ingredients, like Great Northern beans and sweet sausage, and is remarkably easy to cook. Just line them all up and add them to the pot one after the other, which for me is a culinary trip down memory lane. This simplicity made for a fail-safe television appearance and doesn’t hurt at home, either.

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 ounces sweet sausage (about 2 small links), casing removed and meat crumbled

4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

24 small clams, cleaned and scrubbed

¹/₂ cup dry white wine

2¹/₂ cups store-bought, reduced-sodium chicken broth or homemade Chicken Stock

1 cup cooked tubetti pasta (from about ¹/₄ cup dried)

1¹/₂ cups canned Great Northern white beans, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

¹/₂ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

Extra-virgin olive oil, optional

 

1. Heat the oil in a large, shallow pot until quite hot. Add the sausage and brown it nicely for 2 to 3 minutes, adding the garlic after 1 minute. Add the clams and wine, cover the pot, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the clams pop open. Discard any clams that have not opened.

2. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and beans and let them heat through for 1 or 2 minutes. Add the crushed red pepper and Parmesan, stir, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley and basil before removing from the heat.

3. To serve, ladle some pasta and sauce into each of 6 warm bowls and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.