National Linguine Day

The name linguine (or linguini an incorrect spelling) means "little tongues" in Italian, a long, flat, narrow type of pasta like fettuccine and trenette. It is wider than spaghetti, about 6mm to 9mm. A thinner version of linguine is called linguettine. Linguine originated in Liguria region of Italy, typically served with cream sauce or a great pesto as you would likely see in a quaint Trattoria in Genoa .

To make a great homemade pasta you can cut into linguine or any other pasta follow this recipe and then prepare any of my top 12 linguine dishes.

Homemade Pasta

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1.5 cups semolina flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons water

DIRECTIONS

Combine flours and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Create a well in the flour and add the eggs. Attach the dough hook, and turn mixer on to low speed . Let the flour and eggs mix together. Once a loose dough forms turn it all out onto a floured work surface.

Step 1 - Make pasta dough

Create an indentation in the center of the dough, add the olive oil and water. Hand knead to combine the loose flour into a large dough ball. You may need to add more water or flour if the dough seems too dry or too sticky.

Cover the dough ball with a damp kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Step 2- Pasta making add water and evoo, knead

Cut dough into 4 equal portions. Take one of the portions and place on a floured work surface. Cover remaining portions of dough with the damp towel until ready to use. (You don't want the dough balls to dry out, or they will be unworkable.)

Flour your rolling pin and dough well. Then, use the rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1/4" thickness.

Step 3- Roll out pasta dough

Attach the pasta roller attachment to the stand mixer. Make sure to lock the mixer into place. Rotate the knob on the attachment to setting #1, and turn the mixer on to slowest speed.

Use your left hand to gently guide your dough through the roller. (If you rolled it out thin enough in step 3 you shouldn't need to apply any force to get the dough through the roller. If you have to force the dough through, chances are you will end up with tears or holes in the dough. You'll want to re-roll it if this happens). Use your right hand to catch the dough as it falls through the roller.

Then fold the dough into thirds, gently giving the dough a press to flatten.

Pasta Roller Setting 1

Repeat step 4, another four times on setting #1. Dough should be smooth, with no holes or tears. If it's not, keep repeating this process until you are satisfied with the texture of the dough.

Throughout this step, if dough is too sticky, add flour to both the dough and the top of the roller. Sticky dough will not pass through the roller with ease.

On the last pass through, do not fold dough into thirds. Instead, keep it flat and change the dial to setting #2. Pass through dough the roller at this setting one time.

Throughout this step, if dough is too sticky, add flour to both the dough and the top of the roller. Sticky dough will not pass through the roller with ease.

Repeat step six, but increase the dial setting after each pass through, up to setting #5. You may find that the sheet of dough is getting too long, at which point, gently cut it in half. Now, you'll have to remember to pass each half of the dough through the remaining settings (up to #5). After you reach setting #5, lay dough flat on a very well-floured surface.

Repeat steps 3 - 7 with all remaining dough balls. Then remove the pasta roller attachment and replace it with the pasta cutting attachment of your choice. Make sure it is tightly secure.

Select a dough sheet, and flour it well. You don't want to the pasta strands to stick to each other after it is cut. Turn mixer onto low speed and pass dough through the cutter, guiding with your left hand and collecting pasta strands with your right hand. Repeat with all remaining sheets of dough.

Hang pasta on a pasta rack until ready to cook (Or if you are like us, just buy some cheap hangers from the dollar store to use for pasta making.) Slightly separate the pasta strands to keep them from sticking.

To cook pasta, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with salt. Drop the pasta in, and stir often so that pasta strands don't stick together. Cook 3 - 4 minutes use a slotted spoon to drain immediately. Serve as your new favorite pasta dish!

Linguine With Shrimp And Bay Scallops In A Creamy Tomato Vodka Sauce

Ingredients:

12 ounces dried linguine pasta, cooked al dente & well drained

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup minced shallots

1/2 cup vodka

1 can (14 ounce size) diced tomatoes, drained

2/3 cup heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 pound large shrimp, shelled & deveined (thaw if using frozen)

1 pound bay scallops, rinsed & patted dry with paper towels

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley or use basil

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Additional freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a 6-quart saucepan or pasta pot, cook the linguine in salted boiling water until al dente.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. In it, saute the garlic and shallots for 2-3 minutes or until shallots are softened. Add vodka, increase heat to high and simmer for 3 minutes or until the vodka is reduced by half.

Add the drained tomatoes, cream, salt, freshly ground black pepper and red pepper flakes and continue to simmer for 4-5 minutes or until sauce thickens.

Add the shrimp and cover and cook for 1 minute. Add the bay scallops and cover and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in the chopped parsley or basil along with the linguine. Cook, tossing the pasta for 2 minutes or until the pasta has absorbed some of the sauce. Serve topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and additional freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Lobster Fra Diablo

Ingredients:

1 pound linguini pasta

2 whole lobsters cooked with meat removed

10 medium sized shrimp

1/2 cup white wine

2 shallots, finely chopped

2 cups basic tomato sauce, homemade or canned

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh oregano

3 teaspoons fresh basil, chopped

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (or to taste!)

1/2 cup clam juice

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Bring a big pot of water to boil and cook linguine until al dente. At the same time, heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots and garlic until translucent about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, white wine, and clam juice. Stir to blend all the ingredients.

Season with oregano, basil and crushed red pepper.

Reduce heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the lobster and shrimp and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the shrimp are no longer translucent but white and opaque.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. When the pasta is done, make a bed of pasta on each plate, add a piece of lobster along with a few shrimp and top with sauce.

Linguine With White Clam Sauce

Ingredients:

8 ounces uncooked linguine pasta

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 bottle (8 ounce size) clam juice

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

3 cans (6.5 ounce size) chopped clams, drained

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon butter or margarine (optional)

Directions:

Prepare linguine according to package directions; drain. Keep warm.

Saute garlic in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 1 to 2 minutes. Add clam juice and crushed red pepper; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in clams and next 4 ingredients; simmer 3 minutes.

Toss with pasta and, if desired, 1 tablespoon butter. Serve immediately.

Linguine Carbonara

Ingredients:

1 pound pancetta slices -- chopped in 1" pieces

1/2 cup clarified butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup light cream

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 pound spaghetti or linguine

3/4 cup chicken broth -- heated

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Cook bacon until lightly brown. Saute' onion in margarine until onion is a light brown. In small bowl, combine cream, egg, 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Set aside. Cook pasta according to instructions on package. Drain. Return pasta to pot and add onion mixture, cream mixture, bacon, broth, and pepper. Serve immediately with remaining cheese.

Linguine Pesto

2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves

3 Tbsp of Pine Nuts, toasted

2 Small Cloves of Garlic

1 tsp Grated Lemon Zest

1 Tbsp of Lemon Juice

½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¼ cup of Fresh Grated Parmiggiano Reggiano

Salt and Pepper, to taste

For the remaining ingredients:

1 lb of Linguine

Salt and Pepper

Freshly Grated Parmiggiano Reggiano

Fill a large pot with water and sprinkle in some salt, bring to a boil and add the linguine, cook according to package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the starchy pasta cooking water.

In a food processor add the basil, pine nuts, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic and salt and pepper. Start pulsing everything together and slowly add the olive oil. Once you have everything combined add it to a bowl and stir in the parmiggiano reggiano.

Add the cooked drained pasta to the same large pot and add in the pesto and the reserved cooking water. Toss everything together until it’s all combined.

Plate in on a large platter and sprinkle over some extra cheese and some freshly grated black pepper.

Linguine With Spicy Chorizo And Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 links Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced on a diagonal

1 red onion, chopped

Kosher salt

8 ounces linguine

4 cups loosely packed spinach, washed, drained, trimmed of tough stems

2 tomatoes, cored, chopped

1/4 cup dry red wine

4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or marjoram

6 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chorizo and onion. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until chorizo is brown and warmed through and onion is translucent. (Note: If you're using Mexican chorizo or Italian sausage, continue to cook until sausage is done.)

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt. Stir in linguine. Cook for 8 to 9 minutes (or according to package directions) or until al dente.

Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water. Drain linguine. Transfer to skillet with sausage and onion.

Place skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach, tomatoes, wine and enough pasta water to make pasta slippery. Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted and ingredients are warmed through.

Remove from heat. Stir in goat cheese, parsley, oregano and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Linguini Puttanesca

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic chopped

1 can (35 ounce size) imported Italian plum tomatoes

1 tablespoon capers

12 oil cured black olives, pitted

6 anchovy fillets

1 teaspoon oregano

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 pound linguini pasta

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add Garlic and cook until soft. Crush tomatoes and add with juices. Add capers, olives, anchovies, oregano salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup of water.

Bring to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguini. Cook uncovered over high heat until al dente. Drain pasta, put back in pot add some of the sauce to the pot and mix it up. Dish out pasta spooning remaining sauce over top.

Beef & Tomatoes Linguine  Asian Style

1 lb flank steak

3 tomatoes, seeded, cut into wedges

1 bunch (about 10-12) green onions, sliced

1 large green pepper, cut into strips

1/2 cup oil

Marinade:

2 T oil

2 T soy sauce

1 piece ginger root, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon rice wine

Seasoning:

1 tsp. Cornstarch

½ tsp. Sugar

1 T soy sauce

2/3 C chicken broth

2 T. Ketchup

1 tsp. Sesame oil

1 lb linguine pasta

Directions:

Cut steak into thin strips about 2-3 inches long

Combine oil, soy sauce, ginger, black pepper, sugar and rice wine in a large bowl.

Add sliced steak to bowl and let marinate for 30 min.

Combine broth, cornstarch, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup and sesame oil in a small bowl.

Heat large fry pan with ¼ C of oil over med-high heat (wok over high heat).

Stir fry steak for 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large bowl.

Add remaining 1/4 cup of oil to fry pan and heat.

Add green pepper and onions and stir fry for 1 min.

Add tomatoes and fry 1 min.

Add broth mixture and cook until it thickens slightly, about 1 min.

Turn off heat.

Add steak and toss well.

Serve over hot linguine noodles.

Linguine With Mussels

Ingredients:

2 medium shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 rib celery, thinly sliced
1 pound cultivated mussels,(greenshell clams) scrubbed
6 ounces linguine pasta
3 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:
Cook shallots in butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until shallots are softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir garlic, bell pepper, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until pepper and celery are just tender, about 4 minutes.

Add mussels and cook over moderately high heat, covered, until they just open, 4 to 6 minutes, checking periodically after 4 minutes and transferring mussels as opened to a bowl. (Discard any unopened mussels after 6 minutes.)

While sauce is cooking, cook linguine in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 3/4 cup cooking water and drain linguine in a colander.

Add linguine to skillet along with cream, salt, pepper, and 1/3 cup pasta cooking water and bring to a simmer. Add mussels and toss carefully, adding more cooking water if pasta seems dry. Serve immediately, sprinkled with parsley.

Linguine  Bolognese

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 oz pancetta diced

500 g top round  minced beef

1 x 425 g can peeled tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried thyme

⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 cups water or beef stock

Salt and pepper, to taste

½ cup Parmesan cheese

500 g linguine

Method

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Saute onions and garlic until soft. Add the pancetta and saute for 1 minute. Add beef and brown over high heat, stirring constantly to break lumps.

Add tomatoes and their juices, tomato paste, herbs, seasonings and water or stock. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 40-60 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated and sauce is thick.

Boil and drain spaghetti and toss with a little butter. Pile onto serving bowl. Sprinkle with half the cheese.

Spoon sauce over the linguine and serve with the remainder of the cheese.

Thai Beef & Shrimp Linguine

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon mild honey

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce, divided

1 pound flank steak

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

2 large shallots, thinly sliced (1 cup)

1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons Thai green-curry paste

1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 lb. large shrimp peeled and de-viened

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips

1 bunch scallions, trimmed and cut into 3-inch pieces

3/4 pound dried Asian egg noodles

Preparation

Mix together soy, honey, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a shallow baking dish, then add steak and turn to coat. Marinate at room temperature 20 minutes.

While steak marinades, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then cook shallots, stirring occasionally, until browned well, about 8 minutes. Add ginger and curry paste and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 minute, then add broth and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice, remaining tablespoon fish sauce, and salt to taste and keep warm, covered.

Heat grill pan over medium-high heat until hot, then lightly oil. Grill steak, turning once, about 8 minutes total (for rare). Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the shrimp, bell pepper and scallions with remaining tablespoon oil, then grill, turning frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

While steak stands, cook noodles in a pasta pot of boiling unsalted water until al dente, 4 to 7 minutes. Drain well, then add to vegetables and toss well. Divide noodles among 4 deep bowls and top with broth. Cut steak in half lengthwise, then thinly slice across the grain and serve on top of noodles.

Linguini Con Le Vongole Al Sugo

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 lbs littleneck clams, scrubbed well

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 large shallot, minced

2 anchovy fillets, chopped

1 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped ( preferably San Marzano)

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 -1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

1 lb linguine

Freshly chopped basil, for garnish

Directions

Let the clams soak in very cold water with a tsp of salt and the juice of one lemon for about 1/2 hour. This will remove any sand or grit in the clams. Scrub the outer shells of the clams with a vegetable brush.

Bring a large stockpot of salted water to a boil for the linguine.

In another pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat.

Add shallots and crushed red pepper and sauté until shallots are softened.

Add chopped garlic and anchovies, and saute until anchovies begin to melt into the olive oil, careful not to let the garlic get too dark.

Carefully add chopped tomatoes with their liquid.

Stir to combine, and add dried basil and oregano.

Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer sauce until ready to cook clams and linguini.

Add little neck clams to the simmering tomato sauce, stir to coat well, and cover.

While clams begin to steam in sauce, generously salt the boiling pasta water, add linguine, and cook until al dente.

As clams begin to open, I remove them to a large bowl and cover, until pasta and remaining clams are cooked.

Drain pasta, and toss with 1/3rd of the sauce, transfer to a serving bowl.

Top with remaining tomato sauce and toss with chopped fresh basil.

Finally, add cooked clams over top the pasta, still in their shells.