Recipe By Chef Kathy Gold

This dish pulls together easily and is adaptable. Try using mussels, skip the sausage or use a spicy sausage and omit the pepper flakes.

Recipe taken from WHYY's Friday Arts: Art of Food.

Ingredients

• ½ pound turkey sausage, removed from casing
• 25 to 30 little neck clams, scrubbed
• 1 pound pasta
• 2 cloves finely minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, or more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, torn
• 2-4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Olive oil

Directions

1. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the turkey sausage. Cook turkey until brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Add the clams, cover, and cook until the clams open, about 5 minutes. Discard any clams that do not open.

3. Remove the clams to a bowl and remove from shells, reserving any liquid. Reserve the liquid in the skillet.

4. Cook the pasta until al dente, and drain.

5. When the pasta is cooked, add the sausage to the skillet you cooked the clams in, along with the garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Bring to a boil to thicken the liquid slightly. Add the butter and pasta, toss the pasta to heat it through.

6. Add the clams, basil and parsley. Toss again, then serve.