RECIPE: Woods Hill Table Razor Clam Pasta with Lamb Bacon

Woods Hill Table Razor Clam Pasta with Lamb Bacon

By Chef Charlie Foster

Locally raised lamb bacon and briney tinned razor clams nestle in glossy ribbons of homemade tagliolini pasta. A sauce of white wine, garlic, and zingy Calabrian chilies. DINNER IS SERVED!

Chef Charlie Foster not only runs three fantastic restaurants in MA (Woods Hill Table and Adelita in Concord and Woods Hill Pier 4 in Boston), but also works in tandem with the restaurant’s very own livestock farm in NH; the source of the beautiful lamb belly BACON featured alongside our tinned razor clams. Shellfish and bacon (pork, lamb, whatever) are a pairing made in heaven. See for yourself with this pretty-easy-for-any-chef recipe!

Ingredients

  • 1 tin of Razor Clams in Chili and Garlic or Razor Clams in Olive Oil (BUY HERE)
  • ½ lb of lamb bacon or pancetta, diced
  • 1 cup of whole wheat croutons
  • 4 oz pasta, we used a homemade tagliolini
  • 2 Calabrian chilies, sliced into rings
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
  • 1/2 shallot, thinly sliced
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • 1 handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • 3 Tbsp of butter
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Process

  1. Render diced bacon until slightly crisp, remove from pan and place in a bowl.
  2. Fry shallots in a small saucepan until golden brown but not burnt. Remove from pan and add to bowl with bacon.
  3. In a small bowl with the rendered bacon and fried shallots, add 1 tsp of lemon zest, the chopped Calabrian chilis, some fresh chopped parsley, and a few glugs of olive oil. Set side.
  4. Cook pasta
  5. While pasta is cooking, simmer the garlic in the olive oil from the tin of razor clams (THIS IS IMPORTANT), deglazing the pan with a 1/2-1 cup of white wine. Add a few pats of butter and stir
  6. Add the nearly-done pasta to the pan with the garlic with a splash of the pasta water, stirring until creamy and glossy
  7. Add the razor clams straight from the tin with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
  8. Plate – top the pasta with sauce from the pan, the bacon-chili-mixture, bread crumbs and fresh parsley. Enjoy!