Main course

Spaghetti alle vongole

January 28, 2025

Despite it being a dish that evokes the warmth of summer with its flavours, ‘spaghetti alle vongole’ is surprisingly a winter seasonal dish.

Clams are bigger and healthier as they feed on the plankton, abundant in colder waters, and we’re are now in peak season for this amazing produce both in Italy and the UK.

This simple yet elegant recipe is bursting with flavour. Forget the cream (what?!) or tomatoes – this is all about the vongole (clams), garlic, and a touch of white wine. Some chilli as optional.

The key is to cook the clams in their own juices, creating a rich and flavourful broth.

And you will be immediately transported straight to the Italian coast.

Spaghetti alle vongole

Ingredients for 4 servings

1.5kg fresh clams
400g of spaghetti
3 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, bashed
1/2 red chilli, deseeded and finely diced (optional)
100ml of white wine
1 handful of parsley, chopped
fine sea salt
black pepper

Directions

1. Clean and purge the clams

First, you need to clean and purge your clams. To do this, soak them in heavily salted water for 30 minutes. The water should taste as salty as the sea. The clams will naturally filter out any sand during this process.

If you find they’re particularly sandy, repeat this step with a fresh batch of salted water.

After purging, let the clams soak in unsalted cold water for 10 minutes to rinse off any excess salt they might have absorbed.

2. Cook the pasta (al dente)

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then add a handful of coarse sea salt. Add your spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until it’s very ‘al dente’ – this means about 2 minutes less than the package instructions recommend.

3. Start the sauce base

While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan that has a lid. Gently sauté the garlic until it’s soft but hasn’t started to colour.

If you’re using fresh chili, add a small amount now, being careful not to overpower the delicate clam flavour.

4. Cook the clams

Add the cleaned clams to the pan, followed by the white wine. Turn up the heat, then quickly cover the pan with the lid. Shake the pan every 30 seconds or so. The clams should be cooked and open after about 2 minutes.

5. Prepare the clams for the sauce

Take the pan off the heat. Discard any clams that haven’t opened, as well as any empty shells. Now, remove about half of the clams from their shells and add the shelled clam meat back into the pan. Discard the leftover shells.

6. Combine pasta and sauce

When the pasta is ready, drain it, reserving about a cup of the starchy cooking water. Add the al dente spaghetti directly to the frying pan with the white wine and clam sauce. Toss well to ensure the pasta is thoroughly coated, adding some of the reserved cooking water if the sauce needs to be thinned out a bit.

7. Finish and serve

Stir in the fresh parsley and let the pasta sit for a minute or two to absorb all those delicious flavours.

Serve immediately with a crisp glass of white wine and some crusty bread on the side.

Enjoy your taste of the sea!