Chef Graziella
Agnolotti del Plin
The pinched pasta of Piedmont, each tiny parcel sealed with thumb and forefinger, filled with braised meat that has surrendered to hours of slow cooking. Butter or broth. Nothing more.
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Spaghetti alle Vongole
Created by
The iconic clam pasta of Naples, where briny shellfish liquor, white wine, garlic, and parsley become a sauce that needs nothing more. The shells open at the table like gifts.
Main Dishes
Italian, Neapolitan
Date Night
Dinner Party
30 min
Active Time
20 min cook•50 min total
Yield4 servings
This dish requires five ingredients and the discipline to use nothing else. No tomato. No cream. No cheese. What you keep out is as significant as what you put in.
The clams must be alive when you cook them. Their shells will open in the wine and release their liquor into the pan. This liquor, combined with good olive oil and the starch from the pasta water, creates a sauce that clings to each strand of spaghetti. You are not making a sauce and adding clams. You are allowing the clams to make the sauce for you.
Americans want to add things. They want to improve. Garlic bread on the side. Extra cheese. A squeeze of lemon. I tell them: the dish is complete. The Neapolitan fishermen who invented this were not lacking imagination. They understood that the sea provides its own seasoning. Your job is to listen.
Spaghetti alle vongole appeared in Neapolitan cookbooks by the 1830s, born in the kitchens near the Porto di Santa Lucia where fishermen sold their morning catch. The dish exists in two versions: in bianco (white, with wine and garlic) and in rosso (with tomato). The white version is older and, to my taste, purer. It allows the clams to speak without interruption.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small clams
Quantity
3 pounds
scrubbed clean
spaghetti
Quantity
1 pound
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
1/2 cup
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
sliced very thin
red pepper flakes
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
dry white wine
Quantity
3/4 cup
fresh flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1/3 cup
chopped
kosher salt
Quantity
for pasta water
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small clamsscrubbed clean | 3 pounds |
| spaghetti | 1 pound |
| extra virgin olive oil | 1/2 cup |
| garlic clovessliced very thin | 4 |
| red pepper flakes | 1/4 teaspoon |
| dry white wine | 3/4 cup |
| fresh flat-leaf parsleychopped | 1/3 cup |
| kosher salt | for pasta water |
Equipment Needed
- •Large pot for pasta (at least 6 quarts)
- •Wide skillet or sauté pan with lid (12-14 inches)
- •Large bowl for purging clams
Instructions
- 1
Purge the clams
Place the scrubbed clams in a large bowl of cold salted water for 30 minutes. This allows them to expel any sand. Discard any clams that are open and do not close when tapped sharply. These are dead. Do not cook dead shellfish.
Small clams are essential. Large clams become rubbery when cooked. Manila clams or small littlenecks, no more than two inches across, are what you want. - 2
Start the pasta water
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it generously. It should taste like the sea. Do not add the pasta yet. The timing must be coordinated with the clams.
- 3
Infuse the oil with garlic
In a pan large enough to hold all the pasta, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is pale gold and fragrant, about 2 minutes. The garlic must not brown. Brown garlic is bitter garlic. Add the red pepper flakes and stir for 30 seconds.
The garlic here is sliced, not minced, not pressed. Thin slices cook evenly and become silky. A garlic press creates acrid mush. I have said this a thousand times. - 4
Cook the clams
Lift the clams from their soaking water, leaving any sand behind, and add them to the pan. Pour in the wine immediately. Cover the pan and raise the heat to high. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the clams open. The moment most clams have opened, remove the pan from heat. Overcooking makes clams tough.
- 5
Cook the spaghetti
While the clams cook, add the spaghetti to the boiling water. Cook until two minutes short of the package time. The pasta will finish cooking in the clam juices. Reserve one cup of pasta water before draining.
- 6
Marry the pasta and clams
Add the drained spaghetti directly to the pan with the clams. Return to medium-high heat. Toss vigorously, allowing the pasta to absorb the clam liquor. Add splashes of pasta water if the pan seems dry. The pasta should glisten with a light sauce that clings, not pools. This takes 2 minutes.
- 7
Finish and serve immediately
Remove from heat. Add the chopped parsley and toss once more. Taste for salt. The clam liquor is briny, so you may need none. Divide among warm bowls, distributing the clams evenly. Serve at once. Spaghetti alle vongole waits for no one.
No cheese. Never cheese. Cheese does not belong on seafood pasta. This is not a suggestion. This is the law of Italian cooking, and I did not invent it.
Chef Tips
- •Buy your clams the day you cook them, from a fishmonger you trust. Ask when they arrived. Clams more than two days from harvest have lost their vitality.
- •The wine should be dry and crisp, something you would drink. Pinot Grigio or Vermentino work well. If you would not put it in your glass, do not put it in your pan.
- •Any clam that remains closed after cooking is dead and must be discarded. Do not force it open. Do not eat it.
- •Spaghetti is traditional, but linguine holds the sauce beautifully. What you must never use is a thick pasta. The delicate clam liquor would be lost.
- •If you cannot find good fresh clams, do not make this dish. There is no substitute. Make something else and wait for better clams.
Advance Preparation
- •The clams can be scrubbed and purged up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them refrigerated in a bowl covered with a damp towel. Do not seal them in plastic. They need to breathe.
- •The parsley can be chopped and the garlic sliced an hour ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
- •This dish cannot be made ahead. It must be served immediately. The clams toughen, the pasta absorbs the sauce, the magic fades. Plan your timing so guests are seated when you drain the pasta.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 350g)
Calories
740 calories
Total Fat
30 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
24 g
Cholesterol
30 mg
Sodium
380 mg
Total Carbohydrates
88 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
26 g
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