Justin's Spaghetti alle Vongole

This is a classic, simple, and truly beautiful pasta, especially when the quality of your shellfish is top-notch. We tried several ways of making this and chose one that produced the thickest, most flavourful sauce. The key is to sauté the cherry tomatoes until they start to break down, which then becomes the basis for the thicker sauce. We like using fresh pasta for this recipe, which is easy to do now that our favourite pasta maker – the Marcato Atlas 150 Plus – includes an integrated spaghetti attachment. 

Serves 4

Ingredients

1kg fresh clams
3 cloves garlic
400g ripe cherry tomatoes 
25g fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
500g fresh spaghetti or linguini (see ‘BK Tips’)
75ml olive oil 
1 tsp chilli flakes
200ml white wine
Flaked salt & freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Method

  1. Rinse clams and scrub off any debris. Discard any partially opened ones. Set aside in a colander to drip dry.
  2. Peel and crush the garlic; rinse the tomatoes. Chop the parsley and set aside.
  3. Fill a large pot with water and let it boil. Once boiling, add salt, then add the fresh spaghetti and cook for 2-3 minutes. When the pasta is done cooking, set it aside on a colander to drain, and be sure to reserve some of the pasta cooking water. 
  4. Meanwhile, set a saute pan or saute casserole over medium-low heat and add the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium. Add the tomatoes and chilli flakes. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes start to break down.
  5. Add the clams, parsley and white wine to the tomatoes. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cover the pan for 3-4 minutes, until clams have opened. Stir occasionally.
  6. Add the pasta to the sauce, as well as some of the pasta water, and mix well. Serve immediately, with side bowls for shells. Garnish with parsley. 

BK Tips

  • Marcato’s pasta makers are designed in a way that gives the dough a more porous texture, which helps sauce stick to the pasta more effectively. 

  • If you are not using fresh pasta, you can use dried. Follow the instructions on the box, but subtract 2-3 minutes from the suggested cooking time. 

  • To learn how to make pasta with confidence, consider taking a pasta-making class at our London cook school.
This recipe uses a stock image.

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