Linguine alla Vongole

Pour a thin layer of olive oil into a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onions and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and crushed red pepper, and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Pour in white wine, bay leaves, parsley, oregano, thyme, black pepper, and salt. Increase heat to bring mixture to a simmer; cook until volume is reduced by half.

Stir in bottled clam juice, plus clam juice from 3 cans of chopped clams (set chopped clams aside to use later in the recipe). Reduce heat to medium. Combine clam juice from remaining can of chopped clams with cornstarch in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid; place in the refrigerator to use later for thickening sauce.

Simmer sauce over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it begins to have the consistency of a sauce, about 20 minutes.

While sauce simmers, cook the pasta: bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook linguine at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain and set aside to keep warm.

While pasta cooks, steam the clams: In a pot with a steamer rack, bring water to a boil. Steam whole clams over medium heat, covered, stirring or shaking the pot occasionally until they open, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside.

Now, pull it all together: add chopped canned clams to sauce; cook just until heated, about 3 minutes. If the sauce is still thin, shake the refrigerated clam juice-cornstarch slurry, and pour in a little at a time; cook and stir until just thick enough–the starch from the linguine will also thicken the sauce a little.

Toss linguine in the pan with clam sauce and coat evenly. Divide linguine onto individual plates; divide whole clams on top. Top with Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.