Spaghetti alle Vongole Recipe: Tips for Making Clam Pasta

Spaghetti alle vongole is a clam pasta dish consisting of fresh clams and noodles tossed in white wine and briny clam liquor. Garlic, red pepper flakes, and a sprinkling of parsley add bite to this rich Italian dish from Naples, Italy.

Classic spaghetti alle vongole features a simple white sauce (“in bianco”). But that’s not the only way to make Italian clam pasta:

1. 1. Spaghetti alle vongole in rosso: This popular variation from southern Italy uses a red tomato-based sauce instead of the white one.
2. 2. Spaghetti alle vongole with cockles: The Italian word “vongole” can refer to clams or cockles. If you prefer a sweeter, less briny flavor, use cockles instead of clams.
3. 3. Linguine alle vongole: You can use any long, thin pasta shape in this recipe. Spaghetti, which is round, is a classic choice, but you can also use elliptical linguine. Avoid chunkier shapes like penne, which won’t cling to the thin sauce.

This simple pasta dish is easy enough to make on a weeknight but impressive enough for special occasions. Here’s how to master it:

1. 1. For easier eating, remove the cooked clams from their shells. Serving shell-on clams mixed into a tangle of noodles makes for a beautiful presentation, but digging into the shells for a bite of clam can be challenging. Instead, pop the meat out of the shells and add them back to the pasta before serving.
   
2. 2. Clean the clams thoroughly. Before cooking, soak the clams in a large bowl of very salty cold water for at least thirty minutes. This process draws out any remaining bits of sand or grit. To drain, lift the clams out with your hands instead of pouring them into a strainer. This technique will ensure that the sand stays at the bottom of the bowl (instead of all over the cleaned clamshells). Repeat the process for the best results.
3. 3. Serve the pasta with crusty bread. One of the best parts of eating spaghetti alle vongole is the puddle of sauce leftover after the noodles have disappeared. Use a slice of grilled bread to soak up this precious liquid.