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Pasta Vongole (Spaghetti, Linguine, or Fettuccine) with clams, white wine, and olive oil - from Apron Strings by Jan Wong - Diversivore.com
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Mirella's Spaghetti alle Vongole

An Italian classic straight from a real Italian family - this wonderful, simple, delicious recipe comes from Jan Wong's book "Apron Strings" (Goose Lane).  Reprinted with permission.
Course Main Course, Pasta & Noodles
Cuisine European, Italian
Keyword clams, pasta, white wine
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Soaking time for clams* 3 hours
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 742kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs fresh small clams
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin cold-pressed olive oil divided
  • 3 cloves garlic 2 flattened with knife blade; 1 finely minced
  • 1 pkg Knorr concentrated seafood gel or substitute 1 bottle clam juice
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 lb imported Italian dried spaghetti
  • 1 tbsp salt for pasta water
  • 3 tbsp parsley finely minced

Instructions

  • Soak clams for several hours in salted water, changing the salt water three times, or until there's no more sediment, to release grit. Rinse well.
  • In a wok or pot big enough to hold the final dish, gently heat 1/4 cup of olive oil. Sauté the 2 flattened cloves of garlic until lightly golden. Remove garlic. (You can eat it later if you want.)
  • In the same wok, dissolve 1 small container of Knorr concentrated seafood gel into 1 cup of warm water. (If not available, use a small bottle of clam juice.) Add dry white wine. Bring to a rolling boil.
  • Add clams and bring back to a boil. After 10 minutes, turn off heat. These can wait while you're having your first course.
  • Boil a large pot of water for pasta. Add salt. Cook dried spaghetti (spaghettini and linguine are fine, too, but don't use fresh pasta). Bring clam sauce back to a rolling boil. When pasta is a minute shy of al dente, drain and add directly into wok of boiling clam sauce.
  • Bring back to a boil and toss. Cook for 20 seconds. Turn off heat. Mirella doesn't do this, but I add a clove of finely minced raw garlic. The heat of the sauce will modulate the garlic, but it will still taste garlicky. Splash on the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Toss well. Sprinkle with minced parsley and serve immediately - right out of the pot.

Notes

Soaking the clams may or many not be necessary, depending on where you get your clams. Freshly dug clams, or those that might not have been purged in a store or market should be cleaned as instructed above. If you have a good fishmonger who purges clams in store and/or you can get farmed rope-grown clams, there's a good chance you won't need to do any purging at home. I used farmed Manila clams from Saltspring Island in BC and didn't have to do any purging.
Italy vs. Canada - adapting the recipe
These are the Diversivore notes for adapting the recipe as-printed in Apron Strings.
Very small clams are more than likely going to be quite hard to find. Manila clams are larger, but are easier to find and quite tasty.
When it comes to the wine, olive oil, and spaghetti, use the best quality ingredients you can find, as they all contribute significantly to the final taste and character of the recipe. The olive oil in particular is quite important given the volume you're using.
Concentrated seafood gel may be quite hard to come by, but that's ok. Bottled clam juice is easy to find. If you can't find either of these though, try using 1 cup of good fish stock.
The recipe calls for spaghetti, but any long thin pasta will work (in my opinion). I used fettuccelle because that's what I had on hand.

Nutrition

Calories: 742kcal | Carbohydrates: 88g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 950mg | Potassium: 335mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 340IU | Vitamin C: 4.5mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2.5mg