[ ./recipes/pasta/spaghetti-alle-vongole.md ]
★ ITALIAN · PASTA
Spaghetti alle Vongole.
SERVES
2
TOTAL
150m
ACTIVE
30m
LVL
MEDIUM
// SUMMARY
The bianco version, without tomato, the way it is eaten along most of the Italian coast. Two things decide whether it works: purging the clams properly so there is no grit, and emulsifying their liquor with olive oil and pasta starch into a sauce that clings rather than pooling. No Parmigiano, and no butter either — a proper vongole bianco does not need it.
// INGREDIENTS
| 200 | g | spaghetti |
| 1 | kg | vongole veraci (carpet shell clams) |
| — 2–3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced | ||
| 1 | small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped | |
| 100 | ml | dry white wine |
| 4 | tbsp | extra virgin olive oil |
| 1 | small dried chilli, or a pinch of peperoncino | |
| — Fine sea salt | ||
| — Freshly ground black pepper | ||
| — 30–35 g salt per litre, for the purging water | ||
// METHOD
- 01
Purge the clams. Put them in a large bowl of cold water salted at 30–35 g per litre — roughly seawater. Leave 1–2 hours, changing the water once. They will spit out their sand. Rinse under cold water afterwards.
- 02
Sort them. Discard any clam that sits open and does not close when you tap it, and any with a cracked shell.
- 03
Put the olive oil in a large, wide pan with the sliced garlic and the chilli. Warm slowly over low to medium heat until the garlic turns pale gold — not brown, which turns it bitter.
- 04
Turn the heat to high, add the clams, pour in the white wine and cover immediately. Steam hard for 2–4 minutes, shaking the pan a few times. They are done the moment they open.
- 05
Lift the opened clams out and discard any that stayed shut. Leave about half in the shell and pick the meat from the rest — better eating, and the shells still give you the look.
- 06
Cook the spaghetti in plenty of water with very little salt — the clam liquor is already salty. Pull it out about 2 minutes before al dente.
- 07
Add the spaghetti straight into the pan of clam liquor with a splash of pasta water. Toss hard for 1–2 minutes: the oil, the liquor and the starch must come together into a lightly creamy emulsion. This is the step that makes the dish.
- 08
Return the clams, add the parsley and toss once more. Season with black pepper and serve immediately.
// NOTES
- — If the pan looks gritty after steaming, pour the liquor through a fine sieve or muslin before you add the pasta back. It will be too late once the spaghetti is in.
- — Do not overcook the clams. They open, they are done — every extra minute makes them rubbery.
- — Undersalting the pasta water is deliberate and matters. Salted normally, the finished dish comes out inedible.
- — Never Parmigiano. Cheese and clams is the one combination Italians will actually argue with you about.
- — Clams should be used the day you buy them. Store them in the fridge in an open bowl under a damp cloth — never sealed in water or a plastic bag.
// VARIATIONS
- → Rosso: Add a handful of halved cherry tomatoes after the garlic and let them collapse before the clams go in.
- → With bottarga: Grate a little bottarga over the finished plate for a deeper, saltier finish.
- → With lemon zest: A little zest at the end brightens it, though it is not traditional.