Let us start with a bit of culinary perspective: in 1906, on the Bowery in New York City, a hungry night owl hoping to take the edge off the whiskey sodas could get a steak for 20 cents, a mackerel for 25 cents, a broiled rabbit on toast for 35 cents, or an apple pie for 10 cents. (A fourth whiskey soda should he desire? 15 big ones for a Scotch Highball.)
Flash forward to 2014, when new restaurants that open just a few blocks away from M.F. Lyons, the restaurant whose menu we just referenced, are considered cheap if they sell pastas for under $20. Bar Primi, a new "corner pasta shop" at 325 Bowery, is one of these. But actually, even if it's part of the wave of mixologist-employing, brunch-serving, European-tourist-attracting restaurants that now pepper Manhattan's oldest thoroughfare, it still retains a vibe of old New York. Chef Sal Lamboglia, a Bensonhurst native who comes from a family of Italian-American cooks, serves up a menu of classics like eggplant and ricotta rigatoni and sausage and broccoli rabe orecchiette. Below, Sal's take on Clams Casino, a dish you might have been able to find on the Bowery around 1906 (though maybe not with the reference to "Goodfellas thin" garlic).
Spaghetti Clams Casino, by Chef Sal Lamboglia
Ingredients (Serves 4-6)
1 pound dried spaghetti
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped bacon
2 cloves garlic, sliced Goodfellas thin
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 ½ cups died bell pepper, use equal parts red, yellow, and green peppers, or any combination thereof
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white wine
1 cup clam juice
½ cup heavy cream
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano, on the branch if possible (I use Sicilian or Calabrain)
½ teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
2 pound fresh small clams (e.g., Manilas or Littlenecks), well washed ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
To make the Pasta:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. When the water comes to a boil, add the spaghetti and cook until it is just al dente. (Follow the timing on the box and subtract one minute. Be sure to test a couple of pieces in the last 2 minutes of cooking to avoid mushiness.)
2. Drain the pasta, but don’t rinse it: you want as much stickiness as possible, so the sauce adheres.
To make the Clam Sauce:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon then the garlic, and cook until the scent of the garlic is released and the garlic slices just begin to brown, about 1 minute.
2. Add the onion, bell peppers, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring frequently, until the bell peppers are soft, about 4 minutes.
3. Stir the flour into the sauce and cook together until it is smoothly incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until the alcohol has evaporated, about 30 seconds.
4. Add the clam juice, cream, oregano, and black pepper. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture up to a low boil and allow the liquid to reduce by half, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the clams. Cover the pot and continue cooking until all the calms are completely open––about 5 minutes in total, depending on the size of the clams. After about 2 ½ minutes (at the half way mark of your clams), open the cover and mix everything around a bit, then cover again. (If you’re removing t