When we were in Sardegna, I think one of our best meals at home was spaghetti vongole. A simply prepared spaghetti with clams. I have never cooked clams at home but one morning when visiting the market with our friends I saw the fishmonger selling bags of clams. That particular morning we were getting seafood to make on the grill but I made a mental note that I would be back for clams! Almost a week later I finally made it back and got my bag of clams, and a package of some “fancy” “artisanal” spaghetti. That day we stayed at the beach until almost 8 o’clock; after 6pm is seriously the best time at the beach! We drove home late, sandy and tired. All the kids fell asleep in the car and I was really questioning my dinner plans. We quickly showered everyone and put Sage to sleep. She had gotten into the habit of eating a lot throughout the day and going to sleep straight from the beach, so we weren’t concerned. The big kids said they were not sure if they will wait up for our fancy dinner of spaghetti vongole, so while the clams soaked in VERY well salted cold water, I made them cheese sandwiches.
At this point it was probably 9pm. E opened a bottle of wine and without the pressure of needing to hurry up and feed the kids, or put the baby to sleep, I got into the groove of making dinner. Slowly warming up the olive oil with a couple cloves of smashed garlic to infuse the oil. While we were at the beach our friends said they would stay in that night, but luckily provided some (ALL) guidance for cooking the clams. Dinner came together quicker than expected. After the kids’ catnap in the car and cheese sandwiches they seemed to get a second wind. By 9:45 we were all sitting down at the small kitchen table to enjoy the fruit of our labor.
Recipe for spaghetti vongole alla Caro and Matti Fiorilli
Ingredients:
1kg (about 2 pounds) fresh clams
500 grams spaghetti
1-3 cloves of garlic
1-2 cups of wine
Finely chopped Parsley
Course sea salt
2-3 Tbsp good quality olive oil
Instructions:
-Rinse the clams, discard any open or broken clams. Fill a large pot with cold water and lots of coarse sea salt. Let the clams sit in the water for about an hour or 15 minutes
-In a large pan add a few tablespoons of olive oil and smashed garlic cloves, allow the oil to heat up on a low fire, slowly.
-Once the oil is hot, turn up the flame, add the wine, parsley and clams. Cover with lid until you see the clams starting to open.
-At the same time have a tall pot of water boiling with a large pinch of coarse sea salt for the spaghetti. cook the spaghetti according to package instructions.
-Once the clams open they are cooked. In order to not overcook the clams, remove the open ones in to a side bowl. At this point all the clams will open up pretty quickly. Remove all the clams, and allow the sauce to simmer and thicken a bit.
-Drain the pasta but keep about a cup of the cooking water.
-Add the spaghetti to the sauce in the pan and the cooking water and put the clams back in. Toss everything together, and add a little fresh parsley on top! Enjoy!