Name: Spaghetti with Clams (Spaghetti alle Vongole)
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Serves 4 as a main course or 6 as part of a multicourse Italian meal
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 8 ounces ripe tomatoes; 1 small clove garlic; 3 dozen small little neck, Manila, or mahogany clams; Salt; 1 pound spaghetti; Pinch crushed red pepper flakes; ¼ cup dry white wine; 3 to 4 sprigs flat-leaf Italian parsley; ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation info

Serves
4
as a main course

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
40 min

Appears in

How to Cook Italian

By Giuliano Hazan

Published 2005

About

One of the things I yearn for when I return to Italy after I have been away for a while is a dish of spaghetti with clams. The spicy flavor of the tiny, tender Italian clams is unlike that of any clam in North America. Of course, you can make a very respectable clam sauce in the States, but somewhat more forceful seasoning is necessary, such as hot red pepper which is not used in Italy. Also I cut the larger American clams into smaller pieces so that they are less chewy. Finish cooking the