Spaghetti alle Vongole Recipe

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 25

Servings:

This classic spaghetti alle vongole is prepared in bianco with fresh clams, white wine, garlic, parsley, olive oil, and a little pasta water. Light, flavorful, and ready in about 25 minutes, it is an elegant Italian pasta that is surprisingly simple to prepare at home.

Ingredients

¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped + handful to sprinkle over the finished dish
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1 pound spaghetti
2 pounds clams, weight with shell
⅓ cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt

US - Metric

Instructions

Put clams in water and add salt to clean them and purge any sand or grit. Shake them and change the water twice. Remove all broken clams and set aside.
In a large pot of salted water, cook the spaghetti al dente, or 2 minutes less than the manufacturer's suggested cooking time.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, sauté the garlic with olive oil and parsley over low heat. Add the clams and the white wine. Cover to steam for about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the size of your clams.
Give the pan a good shake and discard the ones that have not opened up.
When ready, reserve a cup of the cooking water, drain the spaghetti, and add it to the clams and toss until they are all well-coated. Add some of the reserved cooking water if they are too dry.
Stir in more parsley and let the pasta rest for less than a minute to absorb the flavors.

Notes

Discard any cracked clams before cooking and any that remain closed after cooking. Those that do not open may have been dead before cooking, which is not healthy to eat.
Salting the clams is intended to purge and remove any sand and grit,
In Italy, you will never see cheese, in this case Parmesan cheese, sprinkled over any dishes that contain fish.
Do not break the spaghetti in half. Not only is it not Italian, but it is also much harder to eat.

Nutrition

Giangi's Kitchen provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as a registered dietician does not calculate them.