PENNE WITH WHITE CLAM SAUCE

Sicily

3 tablespoons of olive oil
3 garlic cloves, mashed
3 eight-ounce bottles of clam juice
1-1/2 cup of dry white wine
3 eight-ounce cans of minced clams,
   strained (reserve the liquid)
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
5 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
1-1/2 pound of penne (ziti may be used)
    cooked al dente and drained
1/2 cup of chopped broadleaf parsley

In a deep saucepan, heat the oil and saute the mashed garlic until brown. Discard the
garlic. Remove the pan from the heat, as the next step would make oil splatter. When
the oil has cooled a little, pour in the clam juice and the wine. Add the liquid from the
canned clams and the minced garlic, salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Cook, uncovered,
over medium heat, until the sauce is reduced to slightly less than half. In `a hot bowl,
place the butter, add the cooked pasta, and toss well to blend. Stir the minced clams into
the hot clam sauce Spoon half of the sauce into the bowl of pasta. Toss well. Add one-
half of the parsley and toss well again to completely blend. Serve in hot dishes with the.
remaining clam sauce spooned on top of the individual servings and sprinkle with
parsley.

Penne or "pens" or "feather quills" are spectani ar with this sauce. Since they are
hollow, they collect the sauce and clams. This makes an excellent first course with roast
poultry or meat to follow.