Rory's linguine and white clam sauce for two or three

Ingredients:

18 cherry stone clams shelled with juice retained. Keep the clams and the juice together in a bowl. The clams, depending on size, can be cut up or left whole.

16 ounces DeCecco linguine

4 ounces extra virgin olive oil (Colavita or Badia A Coltibuono)

4 garlic cloves peeled and coarsely chopped

10 sprigs fresh flat Italian parsley thoroughly rinsed and coarsely chopped

3 ounce wedge of Locatelli Pecorino Romano cheese

Preparation:

In the biggest pot that you have, bring water for pasta to a rolling boil. Add a half teaspoon of salt to the water and a couple of drops of olive oil. Add the pasta and stir until it's well separated. Once the water starts boiling let the pasta cook at a continuous rolling boil for about ten to twelve minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the pasta cooks, pour the four ounces of extra virgin olive oil into a medium-sized saucepan and turn up the burner. Once the olive oil is very hot, add the coarsely chopped garlic and stir thoroughly.

Saute the garlic over high heat until it just begins to turn golden brown. Leave the heat at a high setting, being very careful not to brown the garlic, and add one half of the chopped parsley. Stir thoroughly. Remove the saucepan from the burner and place on a unused burner. This process only takes about three minutes if the oil is hot enough. 

Add about three quarters of the clam juice to the oil, garlic, and parsley mixture. Bring the mixture to a slight boil and quickly remove from heat. 

Add the clams (either whole or chopped) to the oil, garlic, and parsley mixture. Do not apply heat otherwise the clams will develop the consistency of rubber!

Once the pasta has cooked, drain it in a colander and place it back into the pot. Place the pot on an unused burner. Add the remaining quarter of the uncooked clam juice and stir thoroughly. Then add one third of the oil, garlic, parsley, and clam mixture. Stir thoroughly. 

Dish the pasta and clam sauce mixture out into two or three large plates. Pour the remainder of the clam sauce mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle the remainder of the fresh parsley over each serving. Grate the fresh Locatelli Pecorino Romano cheese over each dish.

WARNING! I need to say this in all seriousness (which is rather difficult for me):

Some people are highly allergic to shell fish. And as you can see, this recipe includes clams that are essentially uncooked and only heated to a degree. Also part of the clam juice (that is poured over the pasta) is completely uncooked. When I prepare the dish, I only rinse off the clam shell. And when I open the clams (I use a strong pairing knife as opposed to a clam knife), I retain everything that is contained within the clam's shell and use it in the recipe.

To many, this dish is disgusting and they wouldn't even think of eating raw clams, let alone everything contained within a clam shell.  However, it's what makes the recipe and distinguishes it from the typical ho-hum linguine and white clam sauce that one would pay $25 or more for in a restaurant.

The recipe is similar to that which was served in Umberto's Clam House (Little Italy New York) back in the 1970s. The difference is that Umberto's poured boiling water over the raw clams. I've been eating raw clams (and oysters too) since I was about three years old and I'm still here to tell the tale . . . .