Spaghetti Alle Vongole (Pasta With Clams)
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The briny juices of fresh clams create the sauce for spaghetti alle vongole, a classic Italian seafood pasta dish from Naples. The first written recipe is generally credited to 19th-century Neapolitan aristocrat Ippolito Cavalcanti, though many historians believe cooks used Adriatic seafood in broths and soups as early as the 17th and 18th centuries.
For your vongole, use the freshest small clams you can find—or throw in some mussels to make a similar Italian seafood dish, pasta alle vongole e cozze. Don’t skip or skimp on the chopped parsley: It gives the clam sauce flavor and texture. The fresher the ingredients, the better the vongole, so save the canned clams and dried parsley for another day. Because clams’ salinity varies based on provenance and variety, use a light hand when salting the pasta water, and trust that the clam juice will take care of the rest. Use any dry white wine you like to drink—something Italian, like Pinot Grigio or Verdejo, is a safe bet, but a Gruner, Riesling, or any high-acid wine will do just fine. Fresh out of spaghetti? Swap in linguine to make linguine alle vongole or bucatini for something hardier.
Recipe information
Total Time
25 minutes
Yield
2 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Bring 3 qt. salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add 6 oz. spaghetti or other long pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain, reserving ½ cup pasta cooking water.
Step 2
Meanwhile, heat 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced and cook, swirling pan often, until just golden. Add ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes and continue cooking 15 more seconds. Add ¼ cup dry white wine, then 2 lb. cockles, Manila clams, or littleneck clams, scrubbed; increase heat to high. Cover skillet and cook until clams open and release their juices, 3–6 minutes, depending on size of shellfish. As shellfish open, use tongs to transfer them to a bowl.
Step 3
Add ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water to skillet; bring to a boil. Add pasta to pan. Cook over high heat, tossing constantly, until pasta is al dente and has soaked up some of the sauce from the pan. Add clams and any juices from bowl to pan, along with 2 Tbsp. roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, and toss to combine. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Transfer pasta to warm bowls and drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil.
Editor’s note: This recipe was first printed in the May 2011 issue of ‘Bon Appétit’ and first appeared online in April 2011. Head this way for more of our best pasta dishes →
Recipe notes
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