Spaghetti With Clams
Updated July 15, 2015
Michael Kraus for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
Salt
8 to 12 littleneck or other small clams in the shell, scrubbed
¼ pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ to 1 clove garlic, minced
½ dried red chili pepper or ¼ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
⅓ cup Noilly Prat or other vermouth or white wine
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)
92 grams carbs; 33 milligrams cholesterol; 825 calories; 20 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 30 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 782 milligrams sodium; 31 grams protein; 4 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, soak clams in cold water.
- Step 2
Add spaghetti to boiling water, and cook until slightly underdone; pasta will finish cooking in sauce. Meanwhile, place a large saucepan over medium-low heat, and add olive oil, garlic and chili pepper. Sauté gently, reducing heat if necessary so garlic does not brown.
- Step 3
Add vermouth and clams, and cover. Clams should open in about 2 minutes. (If pasta is ready first, drain it and toss with a small amount of olive oil.) Add hot drained pasta, cover, and shake pot gently. Allow to simmer for another 1 or 2 minutes until it is done to taste.
- Step 4
Discard any clams that have not opened. Add half the parsley, and shake pan to distribute evenly. Transfer to a plate or bowl, and sprinkle with remaining parsley.
Private Notes
Comments
When I haven't the time, inclination or supply of fresh clams, a "cheater" version is to use a couple of cans of chopped (not minced) clams from the pantry. Not quite as pretty a presentation, but the taste is there. And a couple of cloves of garlic is a plus.
I quadrupled the recipe (to make 1 pound of pasta), including the vermouth, which means 1 1/3 cups vermouth. That was a mistake! (Well, not a disaster, but the vermouth flavor was too strong.) Apparently that quantity goes over the amount that can possibly cook down. I note that a Mark Bittman recipe (in How to Cook Everything) uses 1/2 cup wine for a pound of pasta, so that would be my recommendation.
This fabulous recipe (which I prefer to Marcella Hazan's published in the Times around 2002) needs the flavorful aromatics found in Noilly Prat vermouth. I used another brand of vermouth when I made the dish last and it did not work as well.
Very good basic recipe for this dish, I would just add that you really need to add lemon juice (and maybe lemon zest). You can also add some halved and blistered cherry tomatoes. For a richer sauce, dissolve an anchovy fillet or two into the sauce. Reduce the sauce down if there's too much before adding the pasta. I also always like adding some butter once the sauce is reduced before the pasta goes in.
Gratitude to Nigella for a one serving recipe for people who do not cook for a family!
Cooked it many times. With white wine, a rounded, sweet and pleasant taste. With Noilly Prat, slight bitter note at first but then irresistible taste of sophisticated palette.