Spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) is the dish we order as soon as we reach the sea, and the one that is never missing from the table on Christmas Eve in Naples. Just a few ingredients and no tricks: that is exactly why it is so easy to get wrong. Here is how we make it, following tradition.
An old and very simple recipe
The first written recipe appears in 1837 in the Cucina teorico-pratica by Ippolito Cavalcanti, Duke of Buonvicino, who suggested vermicelli with clams. It is a dish born on the shores of the gulf, where clams were gathered from the sand close to the shore, and it later became a classic all over Italy.
In Naples the best-loved version is in bianco (without tomato), but there has always been one with a little tomato too. There is even a version "a vongole fujute", meaning with the clams that ran away: a sauce of garlic, oil and parsley that recalls the scent of the sea even when there are no clams.
The ingredients
For 4 people:
- 360 g of spaghetti or vermicelli, ideally pasta di Gragnano
- 1 kg of carpet clams (vongole veraci)
- 2 cloves of garlic, extra virgin olive oil
- a handful of parsley, chilli pepper to taste
- a splash of white wine (optional)
The traditional method
- Rinse the clams well under running water and discard any that are broken or open. Tap them one by one on the chopping board: the ones full of sand give themselves away immediately.
- In a wide pan, heat the oil with the garlic and chilli, then add the clams and cover.
- After a few minutes they will open: take them off the heat, shell some of them and strain their liquid, which is the real sauce.
- Cook the pasta in lightly salted water and drain it very al dente.
- Finish cooking it in the pan with the clam liquid, stirring until the sauce turns creamy.
- Turn off the heat and add the clams and freshly chopped parsley. No cheese.
The variations
In the red version a few cherry tomatoes are added, and here the Pomodorino del Piennolo gives a sweet, intense touch. Some people use linguine instead of spaghetti, and some deglaze with white wine. Our one piece of advice: choose fresh carpet clams, because they make all the difference.
Where to taste them and what is nearby
You will find them in every seaside village in the region, from Pozzuoli to Sorrento and all the way to the Amalfi Coast. To learn more about the ingredients, read Pasta di Gragnano PGI, made in Gragnano, and Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio DOP. For the rest of the Neapolitan table there is Typical Neapolitan dishes, while on the Salerno side Typical dishes of Salerno awaits you. If you are in the city, start with Naples and its surroundings.
