Learn how to Make Alex Cooper’s Clam Pasta

We’re huge followers of turning sudden elements and choices into dinner. Queso can completely be dinner when you’ve got sufficient issues for dunking into it, and simply because a meal consists of two or three seemingly random elements doesn’t imply it gained’t convey you pleasure.  As social media has highlighted, dinner might be buttered noodles with parmesan or a selection of all of your snacks and no matter’s within the fridge, even when that’s a mixture of pickles, hen tenders, sizzling cheetos, leftover lasagna, and berries — the sky’s the restrict. 

For one in all my new, almost immediate dinners, I’ve a stunning supply to thank: podcaster and entrepreneur Alex Cooper.

The Name Her Daddy podcast host caught viewers’ consideration on TikTok along with her staple fast dinner utilizing an sudden canned pantry merchandise: the Progresso White Clam Sauce (with Garlic and Herbs). Cooper initially confirmed her viewers methods to make the dish in 2023, however in a latest submit this yr, she demonstrated that she’s nonetheless having fun with it immediately. 

In her splendidly chaotic cooking video, Cooper demonstrates methods to use a can of this creamy sauce to make clam pasta, her favourite childhood dinner.

“That is one in all my lady dinners, however I simply know persons are going to be like ‘That’s disgusting’,” Cooper says within the video. Whereas some people could react this manner, the favored podcaster has additionally impressed many others to attempt her straightforward canned clam spaghetti. 

To find out if her go-to meal was definitely worth the hype, I made a decision to belief Cooper and observe alongside for the experience, making a swift run to the grocery retailer to purchase a can of the required sauce.

This dinner is a handy three-ingredient recipe that depends on two non-perishable pantry staples and one ingredient you most likely have already got available. To make it, you’ll want Progresso white clam sauce, spaghetti or linguine, and parmesan cheese.

Within the video, Cooper explains that her mother raised her on this precise canned clam sauce. “This clam sauce is to not be disrespected,” she jokingly tells her followers. “That is my childhood. That is my abdomen. Ninety % of my abdomen is rotting with Progresso clam sauce.” Though this may not sound interesting, after testing the recipe, I can affirm that it is truly scrumptious.

How do you make Alex Cooper’s clam pasta? 

When you’ve assembled your elements — the canned clam sauce, spaghetti or linguine, and parmesan — start by boiling water for the pasta. Whereas ready for the water to boil, Cooper concurrently pours her clam sauce from the can right into a separate, smaller pot to warmth it up. 

It’s vital to notice that it is best to particularly use Progresso’s clam sauce, as many TikTok customers say the model makes a distinction on the subject of the recipe. (One creator tried making the dish with the Cento clam sauce as a substitute and didn’t get pleasure from it as a lot as different creators who used Progresso.) 

Subsequent, Cooper heads to the fridge for the third and ultimate ingredient: Kraft parmesan. That is “clearly not actual parmesan cheese,” Cooper clarifies for her followers. She explains that she at all times used Kraft parmesan for this meal rising up and stays loyal to this step as an grownup.

Whereas the clam sauce heats on the range, she transfers the spaghetti to the boiling water. Subsequent, she provides grated parmesan to the heated clam sauce. If you wish to observe the precise recipe, you may use Kraft parmesan, however this was the one step of the recipe I modified barely after I tried it myself. I couldn’t ignore the recent chunk of pecorino observing me from my fridge, and this meal is admittedly about utilizing what’s available. If in case you have actual Parmigiano Reggiano, that might undoubtedly elevate the dish as effectively.

As soon as the pasta is cooked and the sauce is heated by means of with the parmesan completely blended in, Cooper drains the noodles — utilizing a fuzzy sock to carry the recent rim of the pot, which we don’t suggest attempting at residence — then places the spaghetti in her serving bowl and pours the specified quantity of clam sauce on high earlier than mixing all of it collectively. For the ultimate step, she naturally tops it with much more parmesan.

Once I lastly tasted a chunk of Alex Cooper’s clam pasta, I understood her love for the dish. I nonetheless appreciated her candid admission that, “I’m not going to lie, it doesn’t look superb, however the style of this, guys, you don’t even perceive.”

In one other TikTok video, Cooper had one in all her podcast company, content material creator Trisha Paytas, attempt the now-internet-famous canned clam spaghetti. Paytas, who considers herself a choosy eater, was initially involved by the meal’s look. Nonetheless, after giving it a attempt, she was pleasantly stunned and rated the recipe an eight out of ten.

Not solely is that this dish straightforward to make, however I can affirm it has a deeply savory and scrumptious taste profile, due to the generously seasoned, garlicky, and herby white clam sauce. It tends to be on the saltier aspect, and when you discover that the dish is just too salty for you, I like to recommend including the juice of half a lemon to stability out the flavors and introduce a bit extra brightness.

I can’t wait to see what different fast canned meals Alex Cooper has in retailer, and within the meantime, I’ll begin stocking cans of clam sauce and containers of spaghetti in my pantry.