Ingredients:

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   2      tablespoons   olive oil
   4      medium        garlic cloves -- chopped fine
   1      cup           rich -- salt-free fish
                        -- stock
   1      cup           dry white wine
   2      teaspoons     dried oregano
  36      small         fresh clams such as little-
                        - necks or manilas -- in the
                        - shell -- thoroughly cleansed
   1      large         ripe tomato -- peeled, cored,
                        - seeded and coarsley chopped
   2      tablespoons   double-concentrate tomato
                        - paste
   1 1/2  tablespoons   fresh basil leaves -- finely
                        - shredded
   1 1/2  tablespoons   fresh Italian parsley
                        - finely chopped
                        freshly ground pepper
                        cooked linguine

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, heat the oil with the garlic over moderate heat. When the garlic sizzles, add the fish stock, wine, and oregano. As soon as the liquid comes to a boil, add the clams and cover the pan. Steam the clams until all of them have opened, 3 to 5 minutes; discard any unopened clams. With a slotted spoon, remove them from the pan and keep them warm in a covered bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients, except the black pepper, into the liquid in the pan. As soon as the liquid returns to a simmer, place the clams, shells and all, on top of pasta and spoon the liquid over them. Season to taste with black pepper.