Comfort food is a term that is thrown around a lot in our society, but the fact remains that sometimes all you need after a long day is a cheesy, savory, home-cooked meal, the epitome of comfort in food form. My personal favorite meal happens to be just that. Ever since I was a child, my mom would make linguine with clam sauce, particularly for special occasions, like my father’s birthday. Even as a child who didn’t necessarily enjoy eating clams, tossed into a creamy bed of cheesy pasta, they tasted heavenly to me.
It turns out, my mother and I had the same favorite meal without even realizing it.
“What’s your favorite meal momma?”, I ask my mom over the phone.
“Lunch because it splits up my day.”
I laugh at the miscommunication and rephrase my question.
“I mean what is your favorite dish.”
“Ohhhh,” she says, “Linguine with clam sauce.”
I laugh and inform her of my discovery; we share favorite meals.
For those who have never experienced this wonderful dish, linguine with clam sauce is exactly what it sounds like. Long, narrow linguine pasta is cooked al dente and topped with a creamy, buttery, cheesy white sauce interspersed with chopped clams. Garlic and basil add to the wonderful mix of savory ingredients. Eating this meal is the tastebuds’ equivalent to a warm, weighted blanket. I truly believe in the healing, regenerative powers of food both mentally and physically. The rush of dopamine, the complete and utter contentment I feel when indulging in a good, homemade meal is unmatched by many other feelings.
My mother shares these feelings about this meal, along with deeper sentimental emotions. When thinking back on her memories of first eating linguine with clam sauce, my mother says smilingly, “It reminds me of eating dinner at Grandma and Grandpa’s. Their house was like a second home to me growing up. I gained so much weight from eating there every day!”
Of course, she means my grandparents on my dad’s side for her own mother didn’t cook homemade meals for her. The love and time spent on a homemade meal may be one of the reasons for her fond recollection of this one. It turns out, my grandmother was the one who gave her the recipe many years ago. Now, my mother is passing the recipe on to me.
Most of my memories of my mother cooking this dish take place in the kitchen of our late home, the farmhouse. The rich scent of melting cheese wafts up the stairs as I walk down them, following the aroma. The tang of freshly chopped garlic stings the air. Undertones of basil in the air make my stomach growl. Thick steam rises from a large, black pot on the stove. I can hear the bubbles popping and roiling inside and watch as my mom slides the long, crisp pasta into the pot. I step off the stairs and turn into the living room instead, walking away from the tantalizing fragrances. My mom enjoys having the kitchen to herself while she cooks; she needs to have room to move from one countertop to the other while preparing our meals. I remember her ordering my father and I out while simultaneously trying to shoo away the dogs from under her feet.
Every year for my father’s birthday, my mom would make this dish. His birthday is in December, so this warm blanket of a meal is perfect to enjoy in the dead of winter. Not only is linguine with clam sauce amazing comfort food, it has that sentimental feeling of a homecooked meal passed down through generations, from my great grandmother, to my grandmother, to my own mother, and now me. Depending on the number of people who plan on showing up, it’s also an easy meal to alter in size. We would all crowd around the dining room table, sitting in the mismatched chairs my dad and I brought up from the basement to accommodate the extra bodies. Then, my mother would bring out a massive pot billowing clouds of savory-smelling steam and place it in the center of the table for us all to dig in. We would eat until we were full or until the pot ran out, whichever came first, then lounge around, nursing our swollen bellies and lamenting on our experiences since the last time we saw each other.
The recipe for this wonderful cuisine includes a quarter pound of butter, a third cup of olive oil, half a teaspoon of pepper, one teaspoon of crumbled oregano, two tablespoons of crumbled basil, three cloves of minced garlic, half a cup of grated parmesan cheese, one and a half cups of minced clams with juice, three tablespoons of minced parsley, and one pound of cooked linguine pasta. First, you melt the butter over the stove, pouring in the olive oil, pepper, oregano, basil, garlic, and clams once the butter becomes liquid. Allow the mixture to simmer for thirty minutes, adding salt to taste. Cook the pasta as you normally would, drain, and throw into the newly made sauce. After this, toss the pasta in the cheese and parsley and serve.
This recipe seems simple enough so I believe I could do it myself although I’m not an excellent cook. Once, while trying to make my second favorite dish, brownies, I dropped the pan, spilling the liquid chocolate all over the front of the oven. I hadn’t pushed the pan far enough back and it ended up tipping over and coating the inside of the oven with a sticky paste. To put it lightly, my mom was extremely upset. After that mishap, I tend to stay out of the kitchen unless I’m only cooking on the stove. Since linguine with clam sauce requires little effort and is made entirely on top of the stove, I think I would be just fine carrying on this family dish.
Although my parents are no longer together, my mom still makes this dish for special occasions or when we have a lot of guests over. My grandparents still support her and love her like a daughter, making it easy to still share the happy memories that this dish embodies. To me and to my mom alike, this dish is like a weighted blanket, a warm hug from someone you love. I believe a meal should always induce feelings such as these. Food should not only be here to give us sustenance, but to give us delight and comfort when we need a little bit of good in our life.
Recipe
Linguine with Clam Sauce
1/4 pound butter
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. oregano, crumbled
2 Tbsp. basil, crumbled
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups minced clams with juice
3 Tbsp. minced parsley
1 pound cooked pasta
Melt butter and add olive oil, pepper, oregano, basil, garlic, clams, and juice. Simmer for 30 minutes, adding salt to taste. Cook pasta, drain and mix in clam sauce. Toss in cheese and parsley. Serve.
