Spaghetti with clams is a timeless recipe suitable for all seasons. This easy and tasty dish can be prepared in about thirty minutes. The secret to the success is choosing quality ingredients and properly sorting and cleaning the clams.
Ingredients
- 1kg clams
- 280g of spaghetti
- 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
- Parsley with stalk
- Salt, to taste
- 1 chili pepper, chopped (optional)
- 1 glass of white wine (optional)
Preparation
Start sorting and ensuring clams aren’t sandy by tossing them in a large bowl one at a time, discarding any open and broken ones. Set aside good clams in a colander and rinse them well under cold water.
In a large pan, add olive oil, garlic and 3-4 stalks of parsley. Add chili pepper if you like it spicy. Cook at medium-low heat. After one or two minutes, toss in clams, increase heat to medium-hi and cover with a lid until all clams are open. This should take about 5 to 8 minutes. At this stage, some people ad a glass of white wine to get extra liquid and additional flavours.
In the meantime, start cooking the spaghetti in boiling, salted water.
Once the clams have opened, shell about three quarters of them (the remainder will be used for the final plating). Discard those that remain closed.
Recover the resulting broth, filtering it in a sieve and keep aside.
Heat some extra-virgin olive oil in a pan with garlic and finely chopped parsley. Add half of the filtered clam cooking water.
Drain the al dente spaghetti and transfer them to the pan. Finish cooking by adding the remaining clam broth and salt to taste. Stir well to season properly. Add the clams with the shells kept aside as well as some additional chopped parsley and some extra virgin olive oil.
Set in plates to serve.
Wine Pairing
Velenosi
Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico 2021
A wine that well represents the territory – this crisp, bright, and organic Verdicchio is just the thing for spaghetti vongole. Bursting with notes of citrus, peach and hints of almond paste, it has an excellent acidity and structure. It’s very lively and mineral, with a plump mouthfeel and saline finish – making it an extremely satisfying and quaffable wine.
Gabi's Italian Food Blog 
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