Spaghetti alle Vongole
This dish is by far my favourite way to eat clams. It’s fresh, zesty with a touch of spice.
When making this dish or making any dish involving bi-valves (mussels, clams…) it’s important to only cook with ones that are alive. To do so, discard every mussel that has a broken shell or opened shell. Some opened ones are still alive though, you can check by tapping the shell, if it closes that means it’s alive and safe to eat, if not throw it away. I would also recommend buying the seafood the day that you’re cooking them, the fresher the better. If possible, ask the fishmonger to only give you ones that are alive and not broken.
You hear so much about food poisoning etc.. with shellfish. In the many years I’ve made them at home I have never gotten sick, just make sure to discard the dead ones, and the ones that stay closed after cooking. Even if the shell is ajar after cooking, I still throw it away- I don’t want to have to force open the shell, better be safe than sorry.
Serves: 2-3 people
Prep/cooking time: 20-25 mins
Ingredients
1 shallot, finely diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced finely
480g Clams
225ml white dry wine
250g spaghetti
5 tbsps olive oil
1 red chilli, finely minced
1 lemon, zested and halved
1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
Method
In a pot on medium-high heat, add some oil and sweat the shallots until transluscent. Add the garlic, cook for 1 min.
Place the clams and pour the white wine into the pot, let the wine come up to a boil, put a lid on and turn the heat to medium. Let the clams steam in the wine for 6-9 mins, until they open.
Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water, 1 minute under the amount of time for al dente indicated on the package. Scoop out 1/2 cups of pasta cooking liquid.
After the clams have opened, remove the lid from the pot, add the olive oil and simmer the sauce until reduced by 3/4, stir occasionally.
Add the chilli, lemon zest and 1 tbsp of chopped parsley into a bowl, mix together.
When the clam cooking liquid has reduced, add the spaghetti to the sauce, season with salt and pepper, if needed, and stir in the parsley. If the sauce is too thick, add a little pasta cooking liquid to loosen it up.
Finish by squeezing some fresh lemon juice into the pasta. Serve the spaghetti straight away discarding any clams that have not opened. Top with the lemon zest and chilli mixture.