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Spaghetti Vongole

Recipe serves: 4

A Little Background

Another simple masterpiece inspired by, of course, the Ocean and the Italians. Unfortunately I have been to countless “Italian” restaurants that come nowhere near masterpiece with this dish. I’ve had it with more sand than the local beach, garlic raw enough to scare a vampire, and God forbid even cream. If you follow this recipe to the letter you will end up with Spaghetti Vongole better than most places in town.

What you'll need

750 grams (1.5 lbs) fresh vongole (baby clams)
500 grams (1 lb) dried spaghetti
5 cloves of garlic (chopped)
A few sprigs of flat leaf parsley (chopped)
2 red birds eye chillies chopped (chili peppers) (optional)
2 lemons
Extra virgin olive oil
White wine
Sea salt flakes
Black pepper corn mill

What to do

Place the vongole in a strainer, then set that in a large mixing bowl and with the vongole completely submerged, run cold water over them for about 10 minutes.
Lift the vongole out of the water by hand and you should find a fair bit of sand in the bottom of the bowl.
Cook the pasta until al’dente and rinse until cold.
Arrange 4 serving plates or bowls.
Place a pot of boiling salted water on to boil.
In a liberal amount of olive oil sauté the garlic for about a minute and add the chilli.
Once the garlic is very lightly browned immediately remove the contents of the pan into a large mixing bowl.
Wipe the pan clean and return it to the heat.
Add the clams and a splash of wine.
Keep the pan moving and as soon as the clams open remove them to the bowl of garlic one at a time with some tongs.
Once all the clams have opened, plunge the pasta back into the water.
While the pasta rewarms place pan back over the heat and add the clams and garlic back in, sprinkle with chopped parley, more olive oil if needed and a splash of wine.
Drain the pasta, taste the pan contents for one last final seasoning and combine everything for one last time and toss with the juice of one or two lemons, serve and garnish with a little more parsley.
Enjoy with crusty white bread and a chilled glass of white.
This dish is quite versatile and goes with sweeter whites just as well as the drier varieties.

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Recipe By Paul Hegeman
Styling By Paul Hegeman
Photography By Jason Hamilton
© Chef's Pencil 2007