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Linguine alle vongole

Name: Linguine alle vongole
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1.5 kg vongole (small clams), live and closed; 60 ml olive oil; 3 clove garlic; 3 piece anchovy fillets; 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped; 250 ml good dry white wine (two glasses); 400 g linguine

linguine alle vongole

Linguine with clams opened in a covered pan with olive oil, garlic, anchovy, parsley and white wine. Luigi Valdarchi's quick version for SBS, Italian food 'at its simplest and its best'.

Location: Italy · Pictured: Linguine, Spaghetti

Servings: 4
Preparation: 10 min
Cooking: 10 min
Total: 20 min
Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Wide, flat frying pan with a lid
Large pot for the pasta

Servings4

Ingredients

Clams
1.5 kgvongole (small clams), live and closed
60 mlolive oil
3 clovesgarlic
3 anchovy fillets
2 tbspflat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
250 mlgood dry white wine (two glasses)The source says two glasses; the volume is our estimate.
Pasta
400 glinguineThe source says 'cooked linguine' without a weight; 400 g for four is our estimate.

Shopping list

Method

Check the clams: throw away any with cracked shells and any open ones that do not close when tapped. Rinse them in cold water.
Why A live clam closes; a dead one can make you ill.
Put the linguine on to cook in plenty of salted boiling water, timed to be al dente when the clams are ready.
Heat the oil in the wide pan over high heat and fry the garlic and anchovies.
When the oil is sizzling add the clams and parsley and cook for 2–3 minutes. As they begin to open, pour in the wine and cover.
Timer · 3 min3:00
Lower the heat and simmer a few more minutes until all the clams have opened. Discard any that stay shut.
Timer · 4 min4:00
Serve at once over the drained linguine, or pour off the juices and reduce them first if you want a thicker sauce.

To drink & serve with

Fiano di Avellino
Editorial suggestion: a mineral white such as Fiano di Avellino, or the wine used in the pan.

Substitutions

Anchovies → Leave them out for a plainer garlic, oil and parsley sauce; the dish then contains no fish.
Linguine → Spaghetti, the other usual shape for clams.

Common mistakes

Storing live clams in water or a sealed box: they need air, in the fridge under a damp cloth, and should be used within 2–3 days.
Overcooking: the clams shrink and toughen once open.

Storage & reheating

Eat at once. Leftover cooked clams go in the fridge within 2 hours and should be eaten within 2 days.

Safety

Clams are molluscs, a major allergen. Use only live clams from a licensed seller; discard any that are cracked, open and unresponsive before cooking, or still closed after cooking (Nova Scotia public health guidance). Contains fish (anchovy), gluten and sulphites.

Allergens

Gluten · Molluscs · Fish · Sulphites

Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

Dietary

pescatarian

Pasta with clams, all along the coast

Clams with long pasta are cooked on every Italian coast, and the sources the atlas opened do not tie the dish to a single town or date. This version is Luigi Valdarchi's for SBS Food: a quick dish of oil, garlic and white wine in which a little anchovy adds depth.

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Open the clams, keep the juices

Everything happens in one wide pan over high heat. The clams go into sizzling oil with garlic, anchovy and parsley, the wine follows as soon as they start to open, and the lid keeps the steam in until every shell is open. The clams' own sea water and the wine make the sauce; Valdarchi suggests pouring it off and reducing it if you want it thicker.

Food-safety guidance from Nova Scotia's public health service sets the rules: live clams should be closed or close when tapped, should be kept cold and breathing, and any that stay shut after cooking are thrown away.

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