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Pasta with Clams

This healthy variation of clam pasta is a delicious, quick, and easy way to have highly nutritious clams in your diet. It is lighter than some pasta recipes and the abundance of basil adds extra healthy benefits and flavor.

Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes Ingredients: ¼ lb whole wheat spiral pasta 1 medium sized onion, minced 1 TBS + 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth 10 oz can whole clams with juice 1 TBS tomato paste 1 15oz can diced tomatoes pinch red chili flakes ½ cup chopped fresh basil 6 medium cloves garlic, pressed 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil salt and black pepper to taste *optional ½ cup shredded parmesan

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions.
2. While water is coming to a boil and pasta is cooking, heat 1 TBS broth over medium heat in a 10-12 inch stainless steel skillet. Healthy Sauté onion in broth for about 4 minutes stirring frequently.
3. Add tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes on high heat to reduce and intensify sauce. Add clams and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Add pressed garlic, chopped basil, olive oil, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Remove from heat immediately and toss with cooked, drained pasta.

   Serves 4

   Serving suggestions: Serve with

   • Great Antipasto Salad or
   • Creamy Romaine Salad

Healthy Cooking Tips:

Make sure your clams cook just long enough to heat through. If you purchase chopped clams they will take less time than whole. If they cook too long they will get tough and rubbery. Even though the recipe calls for reducing the sauce 10 minutes, temperature varies in stoves so test the sauce for flavor. If it still tastes a little weak, simmer a little longer before adding clams. Keep in mind the added garlic, olive oil and basil at the end will certainly increase the flavor. To keep the sauce from getting too salty, add at the end. Salt intensifies as it cooks. This way you can control the saltiness. Check pasta often while cooking to make sure it doesn't overcook. If it is done before the sauce, rinse it with very hot water and drain well to freshen it and keep it from sticking right before tossing with the sauce. This is a healthier method than tossing it with a lot of oil to keep it from sticking together.

Nutritional Profile

Introduction to Recipe Rating System Chart

In order to better help you identify recipes that feature a high concentration of nutrients for the calories they contain, we created a Recipe Rating System. This system allows us to highlight the recipes that are especially rich in particular nutrients. The following chart shows the nutrients for which Pasta with Clams is either an excellent, very good, or good source (below the chart you will find a table that explains these qualifications). If a nutrient is not listed in the chart, it does not necessarily mean that the recipe doesn't contain it. It simply means that the nutrient is not provided in a sufficient amount or concentration to meet our rating criteria. (To view this recipe's in-depth nutritional profile that includes values for dozens of nutrients - not just the ones rated as excellent, very good, or good - please use the link below the chart.) To read this chart accurately, you'll need to glance back up to see the ingredients used in the recipe and the number of serving sizes provided by the recipe. Our nutrient ratings are based on a single serving. For example, if a recipe makes 4 servings, you would be receiving the nutrient amounts listed in the chart by eating 1/4th of the combined ingredients found in the recipe. Now, returning to the chart itself, you can look next to the nutrient name in order to find the nutrient amount it offers, the percent Daily Value (DV%) that this amount represents, the nutrient density that we calculated for this recipe and nutrient, and the rating we established in our rating system. For most of our nutrient ratings, we adopted the government standards for food labeling that are found in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "Reference Values for Nutrition Labeling." Read more background information and details of our rating system.

Pasta with Clams 1.00 serving 282.33 grams 199.42 calories Nutrient Amount %DV Nutrient Density World's Healthiest Foods Rating manganese 1.33 mg 66.5 6.0 very good vitamin B12 (cobalamin) 3.54 mcg 59.0 5.3 very good selenium 23.83 mcg 34.0 3.1 good vitamin C 16.71 mg 27.9 2.5 good copper 0.47 mg 23.5 2.1 good tryptophan 0.06 g 18.8 1.7 good phosphorus 172.54 mg 17.3 1.6 good World's Healthiest Foods Rating Rule excellent DV>=75% OR Density>=7.6 AND DV>=10% very good DV>=50% OR Density>=3.4 AND DV>=5% good DV>=25% OR Density>=1.5 AND DV>=2.5%

In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Pasta with Clams

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