It's Lent - the forty days that lead up to the Catholic Church’s triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, which are followed of course by Easter Sunday. Catholics throughout the world are abstaining from meat on the six Fridays between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.

This recipe for clam sauce over angel hair pasta will help you take the guess work out of deciding which meatless dish to serve on this Lenten Fridays. Linguine is usually paired with clam sauce, but using angel hair pasta in its place makes the meal lighter and allows the flavorful clam sauce to shine.

Angel hair pasta with clam sauce – serves 6

Ingredients:

5 T extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced (more or less to taste)
a splash of lemon juice
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1 t parsley
1 T Old Bay seasoning
2 cans minced clams with juice, or an additional can, to taste
1 small bottle of clam juice
1 lb. angel hair pasta, cooked al dente and kept warm

Directions:

1. Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil
2. Add the lemon juice and the seasonings (except parsley) and stir
3. Add clams and clam juice and simmer for approximately 8 minutes
4. Spoon or pour clam sauce over the angel hair pasta. Toss lightly and add parsley.

Add grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

This article also appeared on my food page on Examiner.com. You can read it here.

For most people, tomorrow, March 14, 2015, will be just an ordinary Saturday. For math enthusiasts, however, tomorrow is Pi (π) Day, a celebration that only comes once each century. Two times on March 14, 2015 – at 9 hours, 26 minutes and 53 seconds, (both a.m. and p.m.), the date and time will exactly match those of the first 10 digits of the mathematical constant pi (3141592653).

In the math world, pi represents the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. In the food world, pie represents spicy apple, sweet strawberry, creamy coconut custard, tart lemon meringue…well you get the idea. And don’t forget moon pies, pizza pies, and pot pies.

To learn more about pi, including its history and the various ways people are celebrating Pi Day, click here.

For a century's worth of pie recipes (or more pie recipes than you can eat in a year), click here.

Happy Pi Day!

This article also appeared on my Examiner.com page, where I write about food and ways to prepare it. You can read the article here.