Linguine with Clams

It's been about two weeks and I was still thinking about the Pepe's clam pie, so I was figuring I wanted those flavors in pasta form. Below is a simple, but uber tasty pasta dish. Juicy, briney clams and some sweet onions and garlic with some nicely cooked pasta is so satisfying. Make sure to get some bread to soak up the sauce leftover in the pan. If you have pecorino, it would be great to add to the pasta...

Ingredients (all are guesses, since I never measure)
1/2 box linguine
12 clams
1/2 red onion medium dice
8 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp dried thyme
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1.5 tbsp butter
2 tsp dried red pepper flake
3/4 cup white wine
Sea Salt and pepper

1) Thoroughly clean the clams. I washed them, scrubbed them, and let it sit in cold water for 10 minutes. Change the water and repeat until the water is still clear after 5 minutes. Make sure all the clams are completely closed; any that are open are probably dead.
2) Add 1 tbsp butter and a drizzle of olive oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Add onions, pinch salt and pepper and cook for 5-10 minutes until soft. Make sure it doesn't burn, so stir every once in a while.
3) Set large pot of water to high heat. When the water comes to a boil, salt the water heavily and drop the pasta in.
4) Add garlic to the saute pan, pepper flake, and thyme (crushed between the palm of your hand to open up the flavors). Cook for 1-2 minutes again making sure not to burn the garlic. I know it's a lot of garlic, but the Pepe's pie was packed with sweet, pungent garlic.
5) Change the burner with the saute pan to high heat and add all the clams, wine, and cover. As the clams open up remove it from the pan, but make sure to dump any of the juice from the clam back into the pan. This whole process may take 5-6 minutes with each opening at different times. If they don't open, toss them out since they're probably dead.
6) As soon as the pasta is finished cooking (about 8 minutes - 1 minute short of the box time), remove the clams and add them back to the saute pan with the pasta. Cook over high heat for 1-2 minutes, until the pasta changes color and soaks up a good amount of the sauce in the pan. Cut the heat and drizzle extra virgin oil, add some more pepper flake, with the remaining butter (figured it would work like risotto). The key is to see that the pasta is very loose and juicy - great tactile sensation. If it's too tight, then add some pasta water. If it's swimming in broth, then cook it down some more. Buono appetito!