9th April 2026

I managed to get hold of some clams and so decided to make the Manhattan clam pasta from Better at Home by Colu Henry

Another easy, tasty, midweek meal which we enjoyed very much. 

The picture shows breadcrumbs over the pasta which the recipe does not mention.  The picture in the book shows fairly large clams yet littleneck clams are much smaller. I wish the stylists would not do that.  It is hard enough as a home cook to make sure you cook a dish as intended without trying to decipher what is different. 

I decided to add the breadcrumbs because I like the texture breadcrumbs give on pasta. Before I did this I was dubious but it really does add something special.

I started with the breadcrumbs which was fresh breadcrumbs (or panko - use what you have) that are cooked in olive oil then they have lemon zest mixed through. Colu's recipe on the previous page only uses 1 tsp, I added closer to 1 tbsp.  I added the parsley and cheese from the clam pasta recipe to the breadcrumbs rather than put them on the top of the pasta. 

I followed the recipe although changed linguine for spaghetti which is what I had on hand.  This was super easy, pasta on you start the sauce, I did add all of the cup of reserved pasta water in the end to ensure all of the pasta was nicely coated.

This came together quickly, was very tasty and was slurped and enjoyed by all. I left the clams in the shells but when I make this next I would remove the clams from the shells for easier eating. The nduja was so nice with the clams. Delicious.