A summer meal, taken from the water

Dee's away in New York state this weekend at a baby shower for our niece, and I stayed here to clean up the studio and bisque new pots in the freshly-repaired (and now functioning) Skutt electric kiln.
But she'll be back tomorrow and so my meal-making responsibilities resume Sunday. Fortunately, we dug hardshell clams (locally called "quahaugs") last weekend at the edge of Buzzards Bay and I have enough left to make white clam sauce. Done right, this is a marvelous meal, mixing the very briney clam juice with the rich olive oil, and the pungency of fresh garlic and jalapeno.

The recipe can hardly be more basic: Olive oil, garlic, a couple of fresh jalapenos from our garden, parsley from a local farmer, as many clams as you have. Saute the garlic and peppers in a cast-iron skillet, drop in the clams and chopped parsley, steam the clams open. Let them cool, take out the meat and chop it, combine with the oil and clam broth and heat up. Cook pasta until just short of al dente, then add to the simmering clam mix. Let it cook just a bit longer, serve with grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese.