White Wine Clam Sauce

I had never had clam sauce of any kind until I met my husband. We were grocery shopping together just after we were married and he pulled down a CAN of clam sauce. It's funny the items we never notice in the grocery store, isn't it? I had never seen the stuff before, but I'm sure it was there.

Unfortunately for my husband, we started not buying prepared foods and so the clam sauce went by the wayside. Fortunately for my husband, I found this fantastically easy recipe for clam sauce! I normally try to avoid canned anything due to BPA concerns, but canned clams are one of the few canned items I will now buy. Until I find an alternative, that is!

Don't worry about the heavy cream if you don't have it. The sauce will be just as good with out it. In fact, we've never had clam sauce with cream - it's good, but not essential. You can also throw in some tomatoes in lieu of the cream if you have them.

White Wine Clam Sauce
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, diced
1 Tablespoon white wine
2, 6.5 oz cans of clams, juice reserved
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half

In a large pot, heat olive oil and butter over medium high heat until butter is melted. Add garlic and wine and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in reserved clam juice. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low and add clams and cream. Stir until heated through.

Serve sauce over any long pasta like linguine or spaghetti.