Taglioni Limone with Clams topped with Tomato Basil Salad

I spent New Year's Eve 2006 in Florence and brought back to my little bitty Paris studio a bag of Taglioni Limone and a jar of baby clams from San Marino. I figured citrus and seafood are always complements and threw them together.

Taglioni is thicker than most other pastas and is sort of pillowy when you bite into it. It's inherently heavy so I think a light sauce fares better than a heavy cream based one. I let the juices from the sauteed clams coat the pasta and avoided making a sauce altogether.

Ingredients
Taglioni Limone (or any lemon pasta you can get your hands on)
1 small jar of baby clams with the juice
some frozen clams
1 onion sliced
minced garlic
seeded and chopped tomatoes
basil
salt & pepper
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
lemon juice

Saute the onions and garlic together, add the frozen clams, then add the baby clams with the juice. Squeeze half a lemon into the mixture and season with salt and pepper. Once the pasta is done, add it into the pan of clams to toss together.

Mix the tomatoes and basil with salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar in a bowl, and spoon them on top of the finished pasta.

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Taglioni Limone with Clams topped with Tomato Basil Salad