I ventured out of the house for the first time in 4 days to work my legs a little. I know the government has said we can go out for exercise once a day, but I’m not a runner, nor do I cycle, so the only option for me outdoors is to walk. Around where I live in London, it’s very difficult to avoid people, even if they are in smaller numbers, so for this walk, I decided to head towards Angel taking the back streets in the hope of crossing paths with fewer humans. It wasn’t a long walk nor was it very challenging, but it meant I could get down to the fishmongers and get us some fresh fish for lunch and dinner. I settled on fresh clams and fresh king prawns and knew exactly how I was going to use the clams.
Normally made with spaghetti, I threw together a quick linguine all vongole for my household. It’s a super quick dish, everything more or less happens in the time it takes for the pasta to cook and other than the vongole themselves, the rest of the ingredients are extremely basic. In fact, on this particular occasion, I was out of white wine (sacrilege I know!) And wasn’t aware until I had already come home. But, that didn’t matter, the dish was delicious regardless, so you too can choose whether to include to wine or not.
What is extremely important when cooking with fresh clams, is to put them in a salt bath 2-3 hours before you’re due to cook. They will all be closed when you get them, so there’s a chance they will be full of sand and grit – by putting them in a salt bath, they come alive and start spitting all this out. The first time I made this back in Italy, I was wondering what this weird bubble sound was, turned around and I saw the clams all moving and blowing bubbles. It was so fascinating I couldn’t stop watching!
Also, if you’re unable to get hold of fresh vongole (I also appreciate they can be a bit pricey), then you can also try and find jarred vongole – they’re out of the shells and in a brine and are a lot cheaper. They work pretty much the same too! I normally find these in Italy, but Italian Deli’s or big supermarkets should have some! The fresh vongole will also release water as they’re cooking, which will turn into a delicious silky sauce once you add your pasta. Just remember to discard any vongole that haven’t opened after they have been cooked, you don’t want to get a funny tummy!
So if you’re looking to switch up your dinners, this is a perfectly light and delicious pasta dish which will go down a treat with the whole family!
Linguine alle Vongole
Get your hands on some fresh clams and treat yourself to a classic and delicious pasta dish – this linguine alle vongole can be on your table in less than 30 minutes and it won’t disappoint!
4
servings5
minutes15
minutes20
minutesIngredients
1 kg Fresh clams
400 g Linguine (or Spaghetti!)
3 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tsp Dried chilli flakes
12 Cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 Cup White wine, optional
Handful fresh parsley, rinsed & roughly chopped
Salt
Pepper
3 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Place your fresh clams in a large bowl, cover with cold water and salt heavily 2-3 hours prior to cooking. This will allow the clams to spit out any sand and grit they’re storing. I change the water half way through and give them an extra rinse at the end.
- Boil water in a large saucepan, salt heavily once boiling and add the linguine – cook for 8 minutes.
- In a large saucepan, add olive oil and heat on medium. Add garlic and chilli flakes and sauté for a couple minutes before adding the cherry tomatoes.
- Increase the heat to high, add the clams and the white wine if using and cover the pan with a lid. The clams should start to open after a couple minutes but leave them for around 5 minutes to full open. Give them a stir half way through and add half the fresh parsley.
- Add the pasta directly to the frying pan with the clams and combine, this will allow the pasta to finish cooking in the clam sauce for another 2 minutes. Add pasta water gradually to help emulsify the sauce if it’s looking a little dry. Season with pepper and add the rest of the fresh parsley before serving.
Notes
- Remember that although the pasta takes less than 30 minutes to put together, you must leave the clams for 2-3 hours in a salt bath prior to this!
- Be sure not to drain away your pasta water. This is liquid gold and you will need this to help make your “sauce”. The clams will release some water as they steam, but you don’t want dry pasta and once you add the linguine, it will immediately soak up any liquid. Add gradually so you don’t end up with watery pasta though!
- Throw away any clams that don’t open after steaming – if you have to force them open, get rid. You don’t want to end up with a funny tummy.
- You don’t need to add the wine if you want to keep this alcohol free – but it is a great addition.