Spaghetti con le vongole

Spaghetti with Clams

Duration: 30 min

Difficulty:  Easy

Region: Campania

Spaghetti with clams is a typical dish of Campania, now so widespread and appreciated throughout the Italian territory, that it has become one of the most consumed fish dishes in Italy. Precisely thanks to its simplicity in preparation, spaghetti with clams remains one of the symbolic dishes of Italian cuisine, where the flavor of the sea is paired with everyone’s most loved pasta shape: spaghetti. There is also the red version, where the clams are cooked in a tomato sauce.

Pairing Wine: Greco di Tufo Spumante DOCG

Ingredients

For 4 people:

• 350 g of spaghetti
• 1 kg of clams
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 hot pepper
• 1 bunch of parsley
• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt

How to Proceed

Take the clams and rinse them thoroughly under running water. Then put them in a bowl filled with salted water and leave them there for about an hour.

Once the time has elapsed, drain them and transfer them to a pan with a little oil. When heated, the clams will open. Remove the pan from the heat and reserve the cooking liquid. Look closely at the pan, if any clams remain closed, discard them, while the others divide them into two parts. You will leave one part with the shells, beautiful to see on the plate, while you will shell the other part of the clams.

Take another pan and add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, add the garlic clove and the chilli pepper both chopped. Let it fry for about 2-3 minutes and then add the clams (both those with the shell and those without), together with their cooking water.

Meanwhile, boil a pot of water. When it comes to a boil, add the salt and then the spaghetti after a minute. I recommend for cooking, the spaghetti must be well al dente. Drain the spaghetti and add them to the pan with the clams and garlic. Sauté the spaghetti for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle with plenty of chopped parsley.

Serve spaghetti with clams piping hot.