1/3 cup prepared horseradish
1/2 cup crème fraîche
6 strips bacon, cut into lardons
1/2 pound mild italian pork sausage (about 2 links)
1/2 cup minced yellow or white onion (about 1 small onion)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 cup minced fennel (about 1 baby bulb or half a medium bulb)
1/2 teaspoon sambal
1 tablepsoon butter
1 heaping tablespoon minced shallot (1 medium shallot)
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
2 pounds (about 2 dozen) manilla clams
1 cup dry white wine
1 pound linguine
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
combine the horseradish and the crème fraîche in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
heat large sauté pan over medium-high heat. add in bacon and let render for five minutes. remove the casings from the sausage and add the meat to the pan in large chunks. brown the chunks, cooking for about five minutes, stirring only occasionally. add the onion, garlic and fennel and reduce the heat to medium. sweat the vegetables with the browned sausage for another five minutes, until the onions and fennel are soft and fragrant. stir in the sambal. remove the mixture from the heat and set aside.
drop the linguine in the boiling water and cook for seven to nine minutes, or until al dente.
while the linguine cooks, put the butter in a dutch oven or a large, wide saucepan over medium heat. when the butter is melted, add the shallot and garlic and sweat them for about a minute. add the wine, bring the liquid to a simmer, add the clams and cover the pot with a tight fitting lid. steam the clams for about five minutes, or until they have opened.
pour the clams and their cooking liquid into the pot with the sausage. drain the linguine and transfer the hot pasta to the pot with the other ingredients. pour the horseradish crème fraîche on top of the pasta, add the snap peas, and toss all of the ingredients together to combine and to coat the pasta with the cream sauce.
season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper and add extra horseradish if you like.