Let’s create this flavorful seafood pasta:

1. Infuse Oil and Start Sauce Base:

• Pour the 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a cold large skillet or pot.
• Add the minced garlic, drained capers, anchovy paste, and red pepper flakes to the cold oil.
• Place the skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir gently as the oil heats up, allowing the flavors to infuse into the oil, for about 5 minutes. Take care not to brown or burn the garlic – you’re looking for fragrant oil.

2. Build and Simmer the Sauce:

• Add the jarred tomato pasta sauce to the skillet. Rinse the empty sauce jar with the ¼ cup of water and add that water to the skillet as well (to get every bit of sauce!).
• Pour in the white wine and the reserved juice from the canned clams.
• Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, reduce heat slightly if needed and let it continue to simmer gently, uncovered, until it has slightly reduced and thickened, about 7 to 9 minutes. Stir occasionally.

3. Cook the Spaghetti:

• While the sauce simmers (or just before it’s ready), bring a large pot of generously salted water to a rolling boil.
• Add the dry spaghetti to the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it is nearly tender yet still quite firm to the bite (al dente) – about 1 minute less than the package directs for al dente. It will finish cooking in the sauce.
• Drain the spaghetti thoroughly in a colander. Return the drained spaghetti to the now empty (and off the heat) pasta pot.

4. Finish the Sauce and Combine with Pasta:

• Stir the drained chopped clams into the reduced tomato-wine sauce in the skillet. Since the clams are already cooked, they just need to be heated through; avoid cooking them extensively in the sauce or they can become tough.
• Pour the entire clam sauce mixture over the drained spaghetti in the pasta pot. Stir gently but thoroughly to coat all the pasta.
• Cover the pot and let it sit, off the heat, for about 3 minutes. This allows the spaghetti to absorb some of the sauce and finish cooking gently.

5. Add Cheese and Herbs, Then Serve:

• Uncover the pot. Add the ¼ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Stir again to combine.
• Serve the Spaghetti with Red Clam Sauce immediately in warm bowls, topped generously with chopped fresh basil and/or flat-leaf parsley. Offer extra Parmesan at the table if desired.

The final rest in the sauce is key to perfectly finished pasta