Cheap & Easy Creamy Clam Sauce over Thin Pasta

Once again, a bechamel from a roux is my friend. Yeah, it involves seafood from a can. That's life on a budget.

This is a 15 minute meal. The current proportions serve 2 hungry or 3 average diners.

Ingredients:
6-8 oz dried thin spaghetti - any long thin pasta will do (1/2 box of Barilla whole wheat pasta is 6 oz)
6-6.5 oz can of clams in clam juice
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1-2 cloves of minced garlic
~1 cup of milk (at least 1% - we keep 2% in the house)
2 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp flour
~1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
~1/4 tsp thyme
~1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper - a bunch of grinds, I'm totally guessing here
(Optional: ~1/2 tsp red pepper flakes)
Parmesan or Romano cheese for topping

In a medium pot bring slightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta as directed. Sauce takes ~10 minutes. It's best to time the pasta so that it's ready ~5 minutes after the sauce is thickened completely.

Open and drain the clams into a 2 cup measuring glass. There should be ~1/2 cup. Add milk up to 1.5 cups (12 oz).

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.

Add the onion and sweat for ~2 minutes.

Add the garlic and the flour and stir together for ~1 minute.

Add the spices (I don't measure; I just shake from the jars until it looks right...) and then add the milk/clam juice mixture 2-3 oz at a time stirring until thick and bubbly. Once the last of the liquid is combined, lower the heat to simmer and cover the pan. Stir occasionally.

When the pasta has ~2-3 minutes left, turn off the heat under the sauce and stir in the clams.

When the pasta is finished, drain and then toss immediately with the clam sauce.

Serve the pasta onto plates or shallow bowls and grate Parmesan or Romano cheese over it to taste.

Enjoy!

While we didn't have any fresh bread in the house this evening, this dish would of course go with with garlic bread or slices of warmed Italian, Focaccia, or Ciabatta loaf. Ya know, the usual pasta accompaniments.