Spaghetti with Clam Sauce and Zucchini

Linguini con Vongole is my favorite dish to have at an Italian restaurant. I do occasionally still eat it if I’m out with a crowd, but with the acid-reflux diet, I’m really not supposed to. I wanted to make my own version, but I knew that if I made it without the typical white wine and butter, it would be too bland for my taste.

I found my inspiration from a recent episode of Lidia’s Italy. My favorite TV chef made my favorite Italian dish, and I finally figured out how to bring fabulous flavor to my own version of Linguini with clams. Unlike the recipes I found in my cookbooks, Lidia did not make the linguini and clams separately, and then combine them at the end; she made a clam sauce with the reserved water from steaming the clams. Genius!

The result had a delicious seafood flavor. I also added zucchini to the dish, since I like to get my veggies. You can make this with linguini or spaghetti – I used Barilla Plus spaghetti.

Ingredients: (per serving)
• One dozen clams
• Half a zucchini, chopped (optional)
• Two cloves garlic, sliced
• Half medium shallot, diced
• One tablespoon buttery spread
• Half teaspoon dried oregano
• Two tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• Kosher salt
• Olive oil

To prepare the clams:
In a large pot, bring one inch salted water to a boil.
Put clams in the pot, cover tightly to steam the clams.
Once clams open, remove them and reserve the water.
Once clams have cooled, remove them from the shells.
If clams are small, keep whole; otherwise chop them to bite size.

Cook spaghetti just short of al dente while preparing the sauce.

For sauce:
In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil and sauté shallots, garlic, oregano, and one tablespoon of the parsley. Salt to taste.
(Add zucchini here if using it. Coat zucchini with mixture, and move to the next step once it is soft)
Add half cup reserved clam water and buttery spread to pan. Bring to a boil and let ingredients come together.
Add clams to sauce, allow clams to heat up.
Add spaghetti to sauce and allow it to soak up sauce.
Sprinkle with remaining parsley.

Drunken Moules

On the acid reflux diet, we’re not supposed to have alcohol. However, not all alcohols are made equal. Wine is inherently acidic, but beer doesn’t have anything in it other than the alcohol to trigger acid reflux. So, if you’re not using a lot of it, beer is a great alternative to acidic liquids. Some of the alcohol will burn off, and the rest will not be enough to cause the reflux.

Most French restaurants cook mussels with white wine or tomatoes. The Belgian version, with beer, is much better for our bellies.

Ingredients:
• Two pounds of mussels
• One stalk celery, chopped
• Two cloves garlic, sliced
• Half shallot, minced (optional)
• Two tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• Half teaspoon salt, or to taste
• One teaspoon non-dairy buttery spread
• Half cup Belgian Ale, such as Leffe

Requires a large pot or deep sauté pan, with a lid.
Make sure all mussels are clean, de-bearded, and still kicking. If you don’t know how to do it, you can watch this.
Heat olive oil in the pan. Sauté celery, garlic, shallot, parsley, and salt until soft and sweating.
Add beer and heat until just at a boil.
Mix in buttery spread.
Add mussels and cover tightly.
Steam mussels for five minutes, or until they are all open.