Homemade Pasta with Tomato and Clam Sauce

It was the day before I started work and I decided I wanted a challenge to keep my mind off the pressure.  So I browsed through Marika's cookbook and came across a pasta with tomato and clam sauce.. perfect!  I've never worked with clams before so it'll definitely keep me on my toes.  But just for good measure I decided to try making my own pasta as well.  I know what you're thinking... "OMG what a BALLER!"  Yes, what a baller indeed.

I started off with the pasta
First making the dough from eggs, flour, and salt... Just go by how it feels.. if it sticks too much just keep adding flour.. if there's not enough dough, add an extra egg and go from there.  Anyways this is what I ended up with :O looks like dough to me!  Check out my new granite rolling pin :] Sugoi! Originally was one of the columns on the Vittoriano.

Be prepared for a huge mess... it looked like the pillsbury doughboy diarrheaed all over my kitchen by the end of it

I didn't have anything to slice up the dough, so I just used a pizza roller and cut it as thinly as possible

Set it aside to chill while you round up your clams

It's very important you have your favorite wooden spoon ready to beat them back in the pot when they start climbing out 

All the clams will open up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No."

But seriously.. don't let them out!  They're fairly crafty...

After they open up, you'll remove them from their shells and add them to your sauce.  Start boiling your pasta in salted water as you finish off the clam sauce.  Fresh pasta is either done or not, no "al dente" here.

And there you go.. 

This is the recipe I "based" my pasta off of

Serves 4 (or just me apparently)

You may also use cockles (clams well endowed cousins) as a appropriate substitute

Ingredients:

• 2 lb live small clams in the shell or 14 oz canned clams in brine, drained
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1.25lb canned chopped tomatoes
• 3 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
• 1lb spaghetti
• salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

1.  Place clams in a bowl of cold water and rinse several times to remove grit or sand, then drain well.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the clams. Stir over high heat until the clams open up. Discard any that do not open (only eat the ones that try to escape).  Transfer the clams to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Reduce the clam juice left in the pan to almost nothing by boiling fast.  Add the garlic and fry until golden.  Pour in the tomatoes, bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes until reduced.  Stir in the clam mixture or canned clams and half the parsley and heat through.  Season to taste (I recommend red wine).
4. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente (unless you're a badass and made your own).  Drain well and turn into a warm serving dish.  Pour over the sauce and sprinkle with remaining chopped parsley.