Spaghetti alle vongole
A classic vongole is the perfect marriage of spaghetti (or bucatini—any long noodle) and clams, white wine, garlic, and parsley. It’s a technique-driven pasta. Here’s how I (and generations of nonnas before me) make it. To be clear, this is not MY recipe per se. It is just how I do it.
Photo by Casey Haley
Ingredients:
500 g spaghetti (or other long noodle) — 100g per person if you’re cooking for big eaters
1 lb fresh clams (if you can get the little ones, those are best and what you’d have at a restaurant in Rome)
a few heads of garlic
1/2 cup white wine (something you would actually drink)
large bunch of parsley (leaves picked)
olive oil
salt, pepper
The technique:
Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Salt it like the sea.
In a separate, deeper pan, sauté the garlic in olive oil, allowing to brown, not burn.
Add the clams, wine, and cover. Let cook until they open (about 8 minutes.) Any clam that is not opened should be discarded and NOT eaten.
Butta la pasta (drop your pasta in the water and cook until al dente, which is however long they tell you to cook it on the box of pasta you are using.)
While the pasta cooks, pour out a bit of the liquid from the bottom of the clam pot (we call this “clammer’s tea” — drink it if you dare), but leaving some at the bottom of the pan to help build the sauce.
When ready, add the pasta directly to the clams and toss with parsley. Given the whole thing a generous glug of olive oil, shower of salt and freshly cracked pepper. Cook together for a minute or two and then carefully plate the whole dish on a large platter.
Buon appetito, tutti! (NO CHEESE PLEASE. Seafood and cheese do not go together.)
