We made a little Italian feast for ourselves when we were holed up at home through the rainy weekend in London. We made a summer tomato focaccia (with levain with a tiny bit of yeast), spaghetti alle vongole and tiramisu.
A distinct memory I have of spaghetti alle vongole, or spaghetti with clams, is watching a fisherman on a travel show take a boat into the waters of the Adriatic sea and gather hand-dived clams, return home in Venice and make spaghetti alle Vongole. The freshness and simplicity stuck with me. I referenced Artusi (he asks for the spaghetti to be broken into smaller pieces to be eaten with a spoon, then points to using the method for the clam risotto with carrot, parsley, celery, onion and dried mushrooms), Elizabeth David (too much tomato) and Rachel Roddy (straightforward) and a seemingly on point article on making the perfect spaghetti alle vongole before making my own.
Spaghetti alle Vongole • Spaghetti with Clams
Serves: 2
Ingredients
500g small clams
A small glass of white wine
250g spaghetti
3 tbsp olive oil,
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 red chill pepper
1 lemon, zest only
Salt
Method
- Clean the clams: Place the clams in a colander. Let this sit in a bowl of salt water (about as salty as sea water) for an hour or two. This helps get rid of the sandy grit inside the clams that will escape through the colander and settle at the bottom of the bowl.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and the spaghetti and cooking at the lower end of the prescribed cooking time on the packet of spaghetti. Drain. (Continue to next step so the spaghetti is ready just when the clams are)
- Heat another pot. Add the olive oil, chopped garlic and chilli and cook on medium heat until softened and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Do not brown. Turn up the heat, add the clams and wine. Give it a good stir and cook covered for 2-3 minutes, until the clams have opened up.
- Stir the cooked spaghetti into this pot of clam. Add the chopped parsley and lemon zest. Coat to cover thoroughly. Serve with freshly ground black pepper and a glug of good olive oil.
