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Spaghetti alle Vongole (spaghetti with clams) is a classic Italian dish that you will find everywhere in the country, most commonly in the coastal towns and villages, and in the laguna of Venice. There are many versions of the recipe, but I think it is best to keep the cooking simple and let the flavour of clams speak for itself. Clams are sweet as well as salty, small yet plump. This dish will also go well with linguine.
In this recipe, clams are simply cooked with garlic and a little rosemary herbs. Only use fresh clams as the frozen ones are rather tasteless. You may replace rosemary by some chopped fresh or dried chillies (deseeded) if preferred. Remember clams are already salty, and you shouldn’t need to add much salt (or any at all).
Ingredients
- 400g dried spaghetti
- 1kg fresh live clams, cleaned and scrubbed
- 50ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 whole garlic cloves, very finely chopped
- 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 120ml dry white wine
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped flat leafy parsley
Instructions
- Cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until just under al dente. Drain the pasta. Save some of the pasta cooking water.
- Preheat a large saucier over medium heat and add oil. Then add garlic, rosemary and clams quickly and all at once. Toss and fry for a while. The clams will give out some of their lovely juice. Pour in the wine. As it starts to steam, cover with the lid. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the clams start to open.
- Mix in the cooked pasta. Cook for a couple of minutes, allowing it to absorb all the flavours, until the pasta becomes al dente. There should be enough juice to keep the pasta moist, but add some pasta cooking water if it gets dry. Add the pepper and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Garnish with chopped parsley.
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