Frutti de Mare… or My Favorite Quahog Pasta Dish

I love to shellfish and cook what I catch… shellfish for steamers (soft shelled clams), scallops and Rhode Island’s beloved quahog. What’s not to like. You get to be outdoors, participate in a hunt, spend time in the water and experience that wonderful feeling of bringing home the bacon (or the quahogs) to feed family and friends. Here’s my favorite way to catch quahogs then cook a gourmet pasta dinner. If you can’t dig the quahogs you can buy them at the docks or at a fish market that has fresh shellfish.

The word quahog comes for the Narragansett Indian name “poquauhock”. Indians used quahog shells to make beads that were used as money (called wampum). A quahog can get quite old, each line on its shell is a growth ring. You can count the rings to determine the quahog’s age. Researchers estimate that the largest quahogs (about four inches in length) can be 40 years old (see the Quahog Fact Sheet by Eleanor Ely at http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/ ).

Where to get them

You can dig for quahogs in many coastal Rhode Island towns. Parts of the Bay have seasonal or permanent closures, check the RI Department of Environmental Management Web site at http://www.dem.ri.gov/ and/or call them for current closure information. I like to fish spots I know are clean in Warwick , North Kingstown and on Salt Pond in Narragansett.

How to dig them
For years, I dug for quahogs with my feet, this is the way may father taught me. Sort of like doing the twist with your feet underwater and moving backwards until you feel a quahog. Once you do, you reach down and pull it up with your hand. Today I use a quahog or clam rake which is available at bait and tackle shops and hardware stores. In early spring the water is about fifty degrees so I use waders and rubber gloves with great success (I use this same gear to scallop in the fall and winter). They protect my feet and enable me to quickly catch what I need for dinner, minimizing the time I am in the cold water.

How to clean and prepare the catch
You can clean quahogs in the salt water by tossing them underwater in a mesh nylon bag. When I get home I spray them with water to get the remaining mud off and discard any with opened or cracked shells. I then soak them for an hour or so, drain and refrigerate them. Quahogs of all sizes open easier when their muscles are cold and relaxed. So I try to refrigerate them at least a couple of hours before opening them. I have kept them in the refrigerator for three to four days. The RI Sea Grant Web site quahog fact sheet referenced above relates quahogs “can keep up to a week in the refrigerator if they are unopened and laid on their sides”.

Frutti de Mare Quahog Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:
½ cup virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic thinly sliced (or 4 teaspoons chopped garlic from jar)
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley (plus four to five good pinches)
½ cup dry white wine
½ lemon juice
red pepper
3 dozen (scrubbed) littleneck quahogs (1 ½ to 2 inches)
meat of 6 to 8 quahogs cut-up and cleaned (optional)
1 pound linguini pasta

Scrub littleneck quahog shells thoroughly and put them aside.
Cook linguine while making recipe.
Heat extra virgin olive oil in heavy pasta pan over medium heat, cook garlic in oil until golden brown (about one minute). Add and stir in 1/3 cup chopped parsley and all the little necks, let simmer for two minutes. Add wine and let simmer for one minute. Add lemon and the meat of six to eight large quahogs cut up and cleaned (extra quahog meat is optional; if I catch them I put them in). Add red pepper to taste. Cook for eight to ten minutes or until all quahogs are open. Discard quahogs that are not open. Lower heat and put in one pound of cooked linguini and toss the entire mixture. Remove from heat and put into large pasta bowl. The final touch… garnish with four pinches of fresh parsley. (This recipe is a variation of one I first saw in the May, 2002 issue of Bon Appétit magazine by Lori Demori.)

Where’s the Bite
Fresh water fishing locally for largemouth bass is still good said Craig Mancini of Continental Bait & Tackle of Cranston, however, customers not happy about trout fishing.
Striped bass are biting everywhere and on a lot of different baits. The water being three degrees warmer has made a big difference. Ken Ferrara at Ray’s Bait &Tackle in Warwick said customers are taking school striped bass some with clams on the bottom. Fish caught at Pine Hill Ledge, Chepiwanoxet and Warwick Light. Sunday afternoon I caught five fish (including a keeper) off Buttonwoods using a large surface plug that mimics a wounded herring or menhaden. Dave Henault of Ocean State related Nils Christiansen of Ultimate Kayak Fishing took three keepers on sandworms off the shores of Prudence Island. Angler Mike Shepard of Newport reports the striped bass have arrived on the beaches and along Ocean Drive, no tiny ones, all good size and in good shape for this time of year. He caught them on small jigs, plugs and swimming shads.

Tautog bite was good this week too. Dave Henault said a customer caught a 23” tautog in the Taunton River and that Captain Bill Silvia found keepers for his customers on his first Tautog trip on Mt. Hope Bay. Ken at Ray’s Bait & Tackle related that four and five pound fish were not uncommon this week. Customers taking fish at Conimicut Light, Spindle Rock, Ohio Ledge and Rumstick Point.

Squid is in according to Craig Mancini from Continental. Squid jigs moving off the shelves. Ocean State Tackle employees report they nailed the squid at Goat Island this past week.