Savannah Clams Linguine

Y'all, it's our lucky day

It is our lucky day. We have in our kitchen, y'all are used to just get no cook

Well, today, we have a certified chef. This is Roberto Liocci

Did I say it right? You said it perfect. Yay! Sometimes those foreign words that I'm not used to

they get all twisted up with my southern tongue. But he owns, you own two restaurants here in town now

don't you, Roberto? Liochi Strattoria. We're going on five years, and then we just opened one at the Bryce called Pachi

and it's just open about three months, and I'm so excited to grow in Savannah

Well, I just wanted to let you know that I'm so happy I'm here

and I've been waiting for this forever. So I'm so excited. Or at least five years, right

Five years. Well, we're so delighted to have you. So put me to work, honey

Okay. We have something special. We have some local Savannah clams. Uh-huh

And sometimes I go foraging for my own clams. Yes. So we're going to cook this pasta

What does that mean when his tongue's sticking out like that? That he doesn't want to get cooked

He's sticking his tongue out at us. Yeah, he says, not me. That's what he's saying. So

So we have some linguine pasta. So whenever I cook pasta. Linguine is my favorite

Not that other one. Which ones like linguine but wider? Fettuccine. I don't like fettuccine

That's too fat for me. But linguine is perfect. So when we start, I always salt my water. Always

Because it's hard to salt your pasta afterwards. Yeah. Like grits. I love grits

But you gotta salt them while you're cooking them. Polenta. Polenta in Italian

Yes May I dice your garlic for you Yes And I got you on high right there OK once it starts getting a little high you put the Oh that the noise you need to hear

The sizzle. OK, you want them to sizzle. Yep. Look, now two of them's tongue sticking out

So we're going to get them a little hot. We're going to add the two tablespoons of olive oil. OK

And then once they start opening a little bit, We're going to add the white wine

What kind of wine do you recommend, Roberto? Pinot Grigio. Pinot Grigio

So let me ask you this, Roberto. What kind of clams are native to our water here

Is there a certain kind of clam? These little clams come from a..

It's called the Savannah Clam Company. Where is Savannah Clam Company? Now, I've never heard of that

Well, he has a secret location, but it is in Savannah. Oh, okay

Where he puts his little seeds of clams to be cultivated. We're going to add the one cup of wine

These clams come from South Carolina and Maine. The seeds come here, but they grow fantastic

Now, what do you mean by seed? I didn't know that these came from a seed. They look like sunflower seeds, but they're clams

They do. Are they dry or are they in some water? They're dry

They look like sunflower seeds. I did not know that. I did not know that

And he plugs them in the ground, covers them up, and he puts this plastic over it so the manta rays

and they don't get to it. So he plants them in the river or the bay or whatever water

And then we go foraging for the clams. And you harvest your clams

Now, how often do they mature, Roberta? It takes about a year and a half to get this size

Wow, I would forget where I was growing them. Well, he hides it because he just..

I would. I would come forget. Do you want your garlic? Let's put the garlic

So, how many of these little beds do you have? I wish there were mine but his name is John Kelly Well do you have access to Let rephrase it Um it probably um thousands of clams Oh okay So a year is you probably even though it takes a year you

You have other beds that keep on growing and growing. You have other beds. Yeah. And the big clams, they use for chowder

because they're a little more chewy than the little necks. Okay. So we put some white wine

Uh-huh. They're starting to open. Now we're going to put the clam juice

Just bought it at the grocery store? Yes. Okay. Put a little bit of that

And now we're going to put our noodles in there. Okay. So if you wanted to make this, you know

you either usually pick a white sauce or a red sauce when you're going into an Italian restaurant

So basically, you would do the same thing. You would just make a marinara sauce and use the same process

Yes, right. Is that right? Mm-hmm. Do you want me to pour that into the colander

No, I like to keep it nice and moist. Yeah, yeah. Yes, because that acts as a nice starch

We're using the starch of the pasta to make a little... Messy, chef

You had a runaway. We'll get him, though. We're going to chop up some parsley

Okay. I will do that for you. I will be your sous chef

All right, do you want this rough chopped, or do you want it finely minced

I like rough chopped. Okay, then that's perfect. All right, now what do you want

of red pepper flakes. Is that what you call a pinch? A little bit more

Two pinches. Two pinches. Or three pinches. If you like it spicy, three pinches

Okay, there you go. All right, and you have a lemon over here

Yeah, I like to do a little bit more, put a little twist on it

And since we're in the summer and want to make it a little bit more refreshing, we're going to zest a little lemon on it

Okay. Thank you. Would you like salt and pepper? Yes. When using clams, I don't like using too much salt

because you don't know how salty the clams are. This is what contains all the salt

When you're using bottled clam juice, you really have to be careful because all this is grown in salt water so it naturally salty I just like doing the lemon because it gives a nice fresh taste Nice fresh taste And lemon just goes with anything that is in the water

don't you think, whether it be fresh water or salt water? Anything from the sea loves lemon

So I tasted one of my noodles, and it needs a little salt, and then we can finish off with pepper, but it's delicious

Love, love, linguine. And this just to show, like, Italian food is not always heavy

There's a lot of light dishes like this that you could do, which are healthy

and people think it has to be a heavy cheese sauce and all that

Yeah, yeah. But this is just perfect for the summer. I hope you enjoy it

I'm telling you what, it looks scrumptious. Miss Paula, I got a little nervous

because my wife just came in. Oh, she did? My beautiful wife in the back. How about your beautiful wife

Oh, she is beautiful. I know. So that's why I got a little nervous

Hello. How long have you been married? Ten years. Well, you should be over the nervousness

I love so nice to see you, too. Michael and I, too, have been married ten years

We're totally comfortable in front of each other now. This is reality TV. Yeah. Yeah

Yeah, I was making you just nervous. After 10 years, his heart still goes to fluttering

All right, so I'm going to let you do the honors. That is the good stuff. Mmm

Mmm, mmm, mmm. Roberto. Yes, ma'am. It is so delicious. Thank you so much

Now, where did you tell me which way would I go now to get to that bed of clams