Campfire Clams and Linguine

Recipe Notes Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Food Escapes.
Serves 8 to 12.

Ingredients

2 pounds linguine

¼ cup olive oil

8 to 10 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

2 whole dried ancho peppers, chopped

2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice

2 pounds small whole clams, scrubbed well

1 pound fresh chopped clams

½ pound chorizo sausage, sliced thinly (optional)

1 pint cherry tomatoes, washed and halved

1 bunch fresh parsley, washed and coarsely chopped

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions

Inside, on the stove, get a large pot of salted water and the linguine cooking.

Outside, place an extra-large camp pan over the fire to heat briefly. Add the oil, garlic, and ancho pepper to the pan and sauté, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes until the garlic begins to brown.

Add the clam juice along with the whole clams, and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid.

When the clams open (3 to 5 minutes or so), remove the lid. Add the chopped clams and the chorizo and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the pan from the heat. Add the cooked pasta and tomatoes. Using two wooden spoons, thoroughly mix the pasta with all the ingredients in the pan.

Top off each serving with salt, pepper, and a nice pinch of fresh parsley, with a chunk of crusty bread on the side. Serve immediately.

Note: We use our cast iron hearth cooking pans for this dish, with a metal stand called a spider that sits right in the fire. We also use special fire- and heat-resistant gloves in the process. If you don’t have a fire to cook over or the tools to cook over a fire with, you can certainly adapt the amounts in this recipe and cook on the stovetop. It’s just as delicious!