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Pasta alle Vongole (Italian Clams, Wine and Garlic)

italian-pastavongolePasta Vongole is a clam sauce is a topping for pasta, usually linguine. The two most popular varieties are white, usually featuring minced clams, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and parsley, or red, usually a thin tomato sauce with minced clams. Spaghetti vongole is one on the most popular Italian classics. The sauce will cook while the pasta is boiling and they all end up in the same pot at the end. It couldn't be easier. Or quicker. So, as you bring the water to the boil, get chopping. This nutritious and flavoursome meal can be yours in under 12 minutes.

Sauce:
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small dried red chile pepper, crushed, or ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
3 lbs small hard shell clams
1 cup clam juice
1 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, freshly juiced
sea salt
1 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves, finely chopped

Pasta:
1 lb long pasta (spaghetti, fettucine, linguine, etc.)
4 Tbsp. sea salt

Place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. When it boils, add salt, wait for it to come back to boil and then add pasta and cook to “al dente” (about 1-2 minutes less than the package directs.

While the pasta is boiling, put a large frying pan on the stove with a little extra-virgin olive oil. Heat it up and drop in garlic, chilly and parsley mix and let sizzle for about 15 seconds, then add a good splash of white wine and let the alcohol evaporate. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly, keeping in mind that vongole will add their sapid kick to the dish.

Drop your clams in, cover with a lid. They will take about 2-3 minutes to open up and release their beautiful juices. Once opened, lift them out with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Drop your cooked pasta in the vongole and wine juice adding some of the pasta cooking water, enough so the spaghetti can finish to cook until al dente and the sauce creamy in texture.

Turn off the heat and add your cooked vongole, chopped up parsley leaves and extra chillie, if you like it.

Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Cook's Notes:

  • Vongole are alive when you buy them and you want to make sure they are still alive before you cook them.
  • Soak them in cold, salted water as soon as you bring them home from the shop and keep them in the fridge. Discard any ones that come to the surface, or have broken shells at this point. They are dead. Trust me, you don't want to cook with a dead clam.
  • Change the water once or twice. This way they will release the sand they have trapped inside.
  • Don't skimp on the quality of your wine. As a rule, if it's not good enough to drink, don't use it for cooking.
  • We call it "acqua di cottura". It is full of starch and it will help bind the sauce together without having to add extra ingredients. This is a clever little secret in Italian cooking.