The classic version of this dish leans on olive oil and raw garlic. This one replaces both with a single ingredient. Bordier's Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter opens the clams and then finishes the pasta, so the sauce is built from butter, shellfish liquor, and a splash of wine. There is no chopping and no separate sauce. Four people eat in about twenty minutes, most of which is waiting for the pasta water.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves: 4
- Active time: About 20 minutes
- Cook: A few minutes for the clams, plus the pasta. Bordier gives no timing
- Key ingredient: 60 g Bordier Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter
Why this works
Bordier's Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter arrived in 2021, a semi-salted butter carrying wild garlic and IGP Kampot pepper. Wild garlic is the point of difference: it is green and mild where a raw clove is sharp, so it can go into a pan at the start of cooking without turning acrid. The Kampot pepper is floral and slow rather than hot, which is why it holds up against the salinity of shellfish instead of disappearing into it.
Splitting the butter into two 30 g portions is the technique that matters. The first half opens the clams and becomes the base of the sauce as it mixes with the liquor they release. The second half goes in cold at the end, off the direct heat, where it emulsifies with that liquor into something glossy that coats the linguine. Add all 60 g at the start and you get a thin, oily pan sauce instead. Every Bordier butter is churned by hand in Brittany on a wooden malaxeur, and the resulting texture melts and emulsifies more readily than a hard supermarket block.
Ingredients
Serves 4. The wine is optional, and the butter is split into two equal portions.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Linguine | 320 g | 11.3 oz |
| Bordier Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter, in two 30 g pieces | 60 g (30 g + 30 g) | 2.1 oz, about 4 tbsp |
| Dry white wine (optional) | 30 ml | 2 tbsp |
| Vongole (small clams) | 800 g | 1 lb 12 oz |
| Chopped wild garlic or parsley | 2 tablespoons | 2 tbsp |
Method
Step 1: Open the clams in butter
Check that every shell is closed and throw out any that have opened. Wash them in salt water. Melt 30 g of the Bordier Wild Garlic Butter, add the clams and the wine, and cook over low heat, stirring now and then. Take the pan off the heat as soon as the shells have opened.
Step 2: Toss with the pasta and finish
Cook the pasta, drain it, and combine it with the clams. Add the remaining butter, toss everything together well, then plate and finish with a few herbs or herb fronds.
Tips from our kitchen
- Closed before, open after. Discard any clam that is gaping before cooking and will not close when tapped. Discard any that stays shut after cooking. Both rules run in the same direction: you want shellfish that was alive when it went in the pan.
- Purge the sand. Bordier says to wash the clams in salt water. Give them at least twenty minutes in cold salted water first, then lift them out rather than pouring, so the grit stays at the bottom of the bowl. Gritty vongole ruins the dish and there is no fixing it later.
- Keep the heat low and pull them early. The instruction is to remove the pan the moment the shells open. Clams go from tender to rubbery in under a minute of extra cooking, and the residual heat in the pan keeps working after you take it off the burner.
- Save some pasta water. Bordier does not mention it, but a splash of the starchy cooking water helps the second 30 g of butter emulsify into the clam liquor rather than pooling. That is our addition, not part of the original recipe.
- Undercook the linguine slightly. Drain it a minute short of the package time so it finishes in the pan with the clams and picks up the sauce. Pasta that arrives fully cooked just sits in the butter.
- Cockles or clams. Bordier's French edition of this recipe calls for coques, cockles, while the English page says vongole. Either shellfish works. Whatever you buy, keep them small so they cook at the same rate.
How to serve it
Serve it immediately, in warmed bowls, with the shells left in. Bread on the side is not optional, since a good half of the pleasure is the butter and clam liquor left at the bottom. A crisp white with some salinity, Muscadet or Vermentino, suits it. The quality of the pasta matters more here than in a heavily sauced dish, so it is worth reading our guide to Pasta Mancini if you want a linguine with enough surface texture to hold a butter sauce.
Where to buy Bordier Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Wild Garlic & Kampot Pepper Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): semi-salted butter with wild garlic and floral IGP Kampot pepper, made for shellfish and pasta.
For the rest of the range, browse the Maison Bordier collection.
Frequently asked questions
How much Bordier butter do I need for this recipe?
60 g in total, split into two 30 g pieces. Bordier blocks are 4.4 oz, or 125 g, so one block covers this recipe with about half of it left.
Can I use a different Bordier butter?
The Seaweed butter is the obvious alternative for shellfish and gives an iodised, coastal version of the same dish. Roscoff Onion works too. If you use the plain Salted butter you will want to add garlic and pepper yourself.
Can I skip the wine?
Yes. Bordier marks the 30 ml of dry white wine as optional. The clams release enough liquor on their own to make a sauce, though the wine adds acidity that cuts the butter.
How should I store the butter?
In the refrigerator, wrapped or in a sealed container. Cut off only what you need and put the rest straight back in the cold.
Does Bordier butter need refrigeration?
Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Refrigerate it as soon as it arrives.
Can I prepare any of this ahead?
Purge and wash the clams a few hours in advance and keep them cold in the refrigerator under a damp cloth. Everything else happens in the last ten minutes and does not hold.
Related reading
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
- La Brújula Spanish Conservas
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.