Clams Spaghetti - Spaghetti alle Vongole

This dish is one of the most favourite for those who love fish and seafood. The tourists coming to Italy choose this dish very often while eating at the restaurant, as it is very mouthwatering at sight and smells tempting. 

I personally prefer clams that are called "veraci" here in Italy, they are bigger and are nicer to my taste. And of course they are easier to eat! But check it out on the picture, you'll see them....
There are variouse recipes for this dish but I prefer the one that can be termed as "in bianco", "in white", here in Italy as it doesn't expext to have tomato in it.... To tell you the truth this recipe is the classical one, the one you can try at the restaurant, and I'll explane to you all the secrets of preparing it!

 
INGREDIENTS:
(for 2 persons)

600-700g fresh clams (not frozen and not thawed) 
160g spaghetti
2 garlic cloves
chilli
parsley
white wine (if any)
EVO oil  
 
1. Soak clams in salted water for at least 1 hour, as the clams clean themselves, you will see the water to become cloudy. 
The water should just cover clams for about 1 cm, and if you notice that clams don't show any signs of activity, add some more salt then. Approximately, I would say you need a tablespoon of salt per litre. 
2. Start boiling water
3. Wash clams and check if there are any open or broken ones. Sometimes you can find the shells full of mud and sand, so it will ruin the dish. One of the methods of checking the clams is to slightly beat them over the sink. The weight factor is also important, you will notice that the empty ones weigh less then the whole ones.
4. Pour some evo oil into the saucepan, add some chilli to taste and 2 mashed garlic cloves (not chopped, not in pieces). 
5. Add clams to the saucepan, sprinkle with some white wine if you have any, cover with a lid and turn the heat on max. If you hear a cracling sound then reduce the heat, we don't want to burn our poor clams, huh?
6. At the same time, put spaghetti into the boiling water. DO NOT SALT THE WATER. You will ask why? Easy: you have already "salted" clams while letting them soak in the salted water. That's enough!    

7. After about 5-7 minutes the clams will be open and spaghetti half-cooked. Clams will have plenty of water after opening don't throw it away!!!
8. Now you need to transfer spaghetti to the clams. You can do that with the use of kitchen tongs or if you don't have them just with a fork. We may need the water you cooked spaghetti in later, so don't throw it away, please! 
9. Continue cooking spaghetti together with clams in their water. Don't mix, just slightly move spaghetti in the saucepan. If you notice that there no more liquid , then add some water that you kept from boiling. The liquid will result in a kind of a sauce at the end.
10. Chop some parsley finely and add to the ready dish.

Enjoy your home-made restaurant-kind dish!!!  And don't forget about a glass of chilled white wine, cheers!!!




Note: Pasta with the fish or seafood doesn't need any of the cheese, Italian taste won't tolerate it!!!