Of all the wonderful seafood pasta recipes there are here in Italy, pasta with clams is probably the top of the best seller list. Not surprising given how delicious this iconic Neapolitan dish is! This linguine alle vongole is my Sicilian hubby’s recipe. He’s pretty generous with the garlic and peperoncino but it’s just the way we like it!
Red clam sauce or white?
Like many other similar dishes, pasta with clams is traditionally made in what Italians call a red or white version (rosso o bianco); in other words, with tomatoes or without. We normally eat our vongole pasta without tomatoes.
My hubby is the chef when we want to eat linguine alle vongole. Being Sicilian, he’s a star when it comes to seafood dishes and I’m happy to leave him to it. In my opinion, his pasta with clams is the best I’ve ever tasted and I’m not saying that because we’re married!
Ingredients.
The right clams or vongole.
The main ingredient for a ‘real’ Italian pasta alle vongole is ‘vongola verace’ commonly known as the cross-cut carpet shell clam. This ridged shell clam is found both farmed and wild here in Italy, but I’ve read that the taste is the same as they eat only what’s in the sea.
If you do find vongole veraci, they can be a bit more expensive than other clams. But they are worth the extra cost, definitely the best clams! Plus, apart from being really delicious, these clams are self-cleaning so they’re unlikely to have sand in them and make the dish much easier to prepare.
Of course, many people make pasta alle vongole with other types of clams. The Manila clam, which many Italians call the fake ‘verace’, is widely farmed in the Adriatic sea and Sardinia. Consequently, these are used by many cooks to make linguine alle vongole.
Manila clams look very similar to vongole veraci. Another popular clam is the rayed artemis clam. These are smaller, whiter and more rounded but still taste really good too! A popular alternative in the US are little necks which are small clams similar to Manila clams and widely available in North America.
Of course, it’s possible to use canned clams, but in my opinion you won’t get anywhere near the same flavour, as with fresh live clams.
The pasta.
Traditionally, this recipe is made with spaghetti, vermicelli or linguine. We used linguine made by La Molisana. I prefer linguine for this dish because this pasta has more surface area to soak up the sauce. But, any narrow long pasta works well. Spaghetti alle vongole is a popular restaurant item in the US. Italians don’t usually use short pasta in this dish.
Other ingredients.
Apart from the linguine and clams, this linguine pasta alle vongole recipe has very few other ingredients. In fact, most versions contain nothing more than garlic, peperoncino (Italian red chili pepper), white wine, olive oil and parsley.
The garlic: Fresh garlic is a must for pasta with clams. We like this dish very garlicky and use up to 6-8 cloves. Of course, you can use less if you prefer.
The peperoncino: You can use fresh peperoncino (red chilli peppers) or red chili flakes. Again, the amount you use depends on personal taste.
Fresh parsley: Fresh parsley leaves is also a must, dried doesn't work well. The parsley is usually added before serving. It adds a lovely herby freshness to vongole pasta.
Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil has the best flavor. We use the olive oil to cook the ingredients and add a little before serving.
White wine: Wine is optional. We don't always use it and my Sicilian husband feels it smothers from the other flavors. If you add wine use a dry white wine such as a Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc.
Keep it simple.
I recently read an article about this recipe that said, if you’re going to spend a bit for fresh clams, then you don’t want to smother their taste with lots of other flavours. I totally agree with this point of view! Having said that, my hubby is pretty generous with the garlic and peperoncino. But, you can use less if you prefer!
Step be step instructions.
1) Wash the clams in cold running water and remove any with broken shells. Some kinds of clams need a lot of rinsing if they have sand in them. But you can also filter the liquid after you have precooked them, so don’t worry so much about the sand.
2) Peel and finely chop the cloves of garlic and wash and chop the parsley.
3) Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. When it starts to boil add the pasta. You probably don’t need salt as the clams will already be a little salty. Cook the pasta al dente according to the package directions.
4) In the meantime, put the clams in a deep frying pan and cook covered over a medium to high heat until they have opened.
5) Remove the meat from half of the clam shells keeping the rest intact and if necessary, filter the liquid that the clams produce through a fine cloth into a bowl. Discard the empty shells.
6) Heat the olive oil in a frying pan or skillet. Add the garlic and peperoncino. Cook over a medium heat until the garlic starts to soften.
7) Add the clams (with shells and without) with half their liquid to the pan and cook for a few minutes. Add the white wine (if using) and cook further until the alcohol evaporates. If the sauce seems dry, pour in the rest of the clam liquid. Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes and then turn off the heat.
8) When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add to the pan with the cooked clams. Mix everything together well over a low heat. Then add a tablespoon of olive oil and most the chopped parsley. Mix again and serve immediately with another sprinkling of chopped parsley, if required.
Cook's Tip.
There are just 2 points that need care to make sure your linguine pasta alle vongole is perfect. Firstly, in this version the clams are cooked alone first. Then you will need to remove the meat from half of them, keeping the others in their shells to make the dish look more appetizing!
It's important to discard any unopened shells as this means the clam is dead. Don't try to open clams! Secondly, if the liquid from the clams appears to have sand in it then you will need to filter it before adding the cooked clams and liquid to the rest of the sauce ingredients.
So easy to make.
Linguine alle vongole is a dish that many people order in restaurants but rarely make at home. However, it’s actually pretty easy and there’s no residue fishy smell in the kitchen.
What you’ll get is a wonderful garlicky aroma that is so mouth- watering! We sometimes cook the clams and eat them without pasta, just a bit of bread to soak up the sauce. Delicious too!
Let me know what you think.
If you make this classic Italian seafood pasta dish I’d love to hear how it turns out and if you liked it. Please leave a comment here on the blog or on The Pasta Project Facebook page. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Buon appetito!
If you like linguine you will probably love these other classic recipes from Campania
Linguine al limone (with lemon and cream)
If you like seafood pasta recipes check out these traditional ones too
Baked fish ravioli from Liguria
Fregola with clams from Sardinia
Mussels alla Tarantina from Puglia
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Linguine alle vongole recipe (pasta with clams)
Ingredients
- 11 ounces linguine or vermicelli or spaghetti
- 1.8 pounds fresh clams about 200g/7oz per person
- 5-8 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon peperoncino (red chili pepper) or dried flakes amount depends on your preference
- 4-5 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 handfuls fresh parsley finely chopped
- salt to taste (we don't add it to the pasta cooking water)
- 2.5 Floz dry white wine (optional)
Instructions
- Chop the peeled garlic and parsley finely. If using a whole fresh or dried red chili chop finely too. Remove the seeds to make it milder. Be careful not to touch your eyes or mouth after doing this and wash your hands well before continuing to cook.
- Wash the clams in cold water and remove any with broken shells. Some kinds of clams need a lot of rinsing if they have sand in them. But you can also filter the liquid after you have precooked them, so don’t worry so much about the sand.
- Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. When it starts to boil add the pasta. You probably don’t need salt as the clams will already be a little salty.
- While the water is boiling for the pasta, put the clams in a deep frying pan and cook covered over a medium to high heat until they have opened. (about 5 minutes)
- Allow the clams to cool a little and then remove the meat from half of the clam shells keeping the rest intact. Discard the empty shells and, if necessary, filter the liquid that the clams have produced. Don't discard it.
- Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet.
- Heat half the olive oil in a frying pan or skillet. Add the garlic and peperoncino. Cook until the garlic starts to soften. Add the clams (with shells and without) with cook for a few minutes. Then add some of the filtered clam water. Next, add the white wine (if using) and cook further until the alcohol evaporates. Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes and then turn off the heat.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add to the pan with the cooked clams. Mix everything together well over a low heat. Add the chopped parsley and a litle olive oil. Mix together again and serve immediately with another sprinkling of chopped parsley, if required.
Purging the clams
- With vongole veraci it's usually not necessary to do more than rinse the clams under running water. So we never purge them.
- However, some people prefer to purge the clams of sand before cooking them. This involves filling a large bowl with cold water and stirring in enough salt to make it salty like the sea. Adding the clams and letting them stand for 30 minutes. The clams will open and release any sand they have inside. You then need to lift the clams from the water and discard the water. If there is sand in the bottom of the bowl, rinse it out and repeat this process until the clams no longer release sand into the water (usually 2 to 3 purging cycles). Discard any clams that are gaping open and refuse to close when prodded.
Jim D. says
Hello, I haven't made this yet, but it looks great. I have a question: how do you cook the clams? I imagine you add some water to the pan and simmer them, but I did not see any instructive in the recipe. Please let me know, because I plan to make this dish in 7 days. 🙂
Jacqui says
Hi Jim thanks for your comment. There are 2 ways to cook the clams. We don't add anything to the pan where the clams first cook. Just put them in (after rinsing/purging), cover and cook until they are all open. They produce some liquid themselves which may need to be filtered if it has sand in it. Some people open the clams in a pot with garlic and oil and even some wine. And then continue cooking in the same pot. My Sicilian hubby prefers to open the clams separately. This recipe is his version and I've eaten it many times. It's very good! Let me know how yours turns out!
Bobby Johnson says
Make it constantly. Try adding a little anchovy paste to olive oil. Also, Momma said a pinch of oregano might give it some zing
Adam Cohen says
I would love to add calamari and scrimp to this. At what point do I add that and how would you suggest cooking it together. I am basically looking to make a nice Christmas seafood over pasta dish. many thanks.
Jacqui says
Hi Adam, thanks for your comment. If I were to add calamari and shrimps to this dish, I would cook the calamari separately as they require more cooking. You can cook them in some olive oil with garlic for 15-20 minutes but check them. It depends on how large the pieces are. The shrimp, if fresh, don't need much time so you can add them to the clams for the last 2-3 minutes. Put everything together before adding the pasta.
Adam says
Thank you for the help. It came out wonderful. I also have some pictures that I can send along if you would like.
Jacqui says
I'm so glad your pasta came out well Adam. Would love to see pics! Please share on my FB group pastaliciousness or send me via email or add photos to my pin for this recipe on Pinterest if you use it! https://www.pinterest.it/pin/745908757010690013/ Happy New Year from Verona!
Mark says
Thanks a lot for this genuine recipe. I am completely fond of this dish, because of it's simplicity yet heavenly taste.
I had somewhat too much of the pepperoni, and I better had the juice of the clams distributed more attentively, but nonetheless it was DIVINE!
jess says
Hello,
I have questions about the overall flavour of the dish as I just made this and it was a bit bland and low on acid (so I added lemon zest and juice).
Now, logically I know that I used different ingredients (the clams), brands (the olive oil, wine) in different amounts (200+ grams clams, maybe ten) which would alter the flavour and yet everything was proportionally reduced so before I ask how I can improve the dish I'd like to know what I should have expected to begin with?
I really think part of the blandness came from the lack of clam juice/meat (I live just far enough away from three oceans to be limited in choice) and probably the wine choice (vidal chardonnay) or maybe I'm just too Canadian and expect flavour to punch me in the face. Any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jacqui says
Hello Jess, thank you for your comment. I'm sorry to hear that your pasta alle vongole didn't turn out that well. It's difficult to know why exactly without seeing what you used. Did you use fresh clams? I think this dish definitely requires fresh clams and a good amount to get the right flavour. We usually aim for 200g per person. However, these are quite small clams so you get quite a lot. The liquid the clams produce is pretty important too. The rest of the flavour comes from the oil, garlic, red chili pepper and parsley! My hubby says the wine isn't so important. In reality, this dish tastes almost like a mild 'aglio, olio, peperoncino' with clams and should have a lot of flavour. In fact, we often make the clams without pasta and eat them with bread to dip in the sauce, although we double the quantity of clams for that. Do let me know if you have other questions. All the best from Verona.
Nisha says
This looks so delicious , nice to learn the recipe as well!
Rho says
The best! Loved every bite!
Jacqui says
So happy you enjoyed this pasta alle vongole Rho! It's my hubby's signature dish and we eat it often. I have to say I never tire of it!
Cheever says
Wow, have to try this. One question: In step 4, do you cook the clams in oil or any liquid? Or just put them in a dry pan with a lid?
Jacqui says
Hi Cheever, thanks for your comment. I'm sure you'll love this pasta with clams. Re your question, we don't put any liquid with the clams. They will release some liquid themselves. Once they are all open, remove from the heat. You don't want to overcook them.
Teddy says
I Followed the recipe exactly with all ingredients. Was excellent. However, the clams produced a significant amount of juice after heatng them on their own. So when added everything into the pan, I ended up cooking the clams too long because I was trying to reduce the amount of water. I thought the sauce should be a bit thicker. Perhaps add the clam juice to pan with the garlic and chilli and reduce a bit before adding the clams in.
Definitely 5 stars!
Jacqui says
Hi Teddy, thanks for your comment. I'm glad you enjoyed this dish. It's definitely one of my favourites! Re clam juice. It could be that different kinds of clams produce more liquid than others, in which case it's probably a good idea not to use all the clam juice or do as you suggested and reduce it before adding back the clams.
Frank says
Thanks for the recipe. The sauce was glorious but when I added the pasta, it didn’t seem to stick to the pasta well. I don’t know if I used too much pasta (70% of 1lb box), but the flavor on the pasta seemed a bit diluted and not as good as when I tasted the sauce itself with a spoon. Any ideas?
Jacqui says
Hi Frank, thanks for your comment. It's difficult to know why your sauce didn't stick to the pasta and didn't taste as good with the pasta as without. I don't think the amount of pasta was too much if you used the quantities of ingredients in the recipe. The only reason that comes to mind is the quality of your pasta. What make was it? Pasta that isn't bronze extruded (made using bronze dies) is far less absorbent and the sauce tends to 'slip' off it.
Ann says
I must be blind - was looking forward to a recipe and scrolling back and forth and there appears to not be one?!
Jacqui says
Hi Ann, thanks for letting me know. It seems that the recipe disappeared. Must be some glitch on the site. I have reinserted it!
Peter says
It was delicious. My wifey is very discerning and she slurped her way through the meal.
The small changes I made was that I cooked the clams in 1/2 cup of white wine, covered. I would have added some fresh ground pepper, and didn’t have any parsley so I substituted with green onion (gulp). It was a hit! I also wish I had a baguette or Italian bread to sop up the sauce, it was so goooooooood!
Jacqui says
Hi Peter! Am glad you enjoyed this dish! It's one of my favourites. Yes soaking up the sauce with bread is a must! Almost the best part of the whole meal!
Linda says
I’m Italian, and grew up with simple pasta dishes such as this. Your husband’s technique was a bit different than I’ve used in the past. I followed this to the letter, and the resulting dish was perfection. Thank you!
Caroline says
This is such a favorite dish - so easy but delicious. I have lovely memories enjoying it in Rome, really should make it at home soon. Yours looks great!
Colleen says
This is making me so hungry! It looks absolutely yummy and we love clams in our house, so I can't wait to make it!
Emily says
Thanks for the note about unopened clams. So good to know!
Andrea Metlika says
Wow, this is absolutely divine. I love everything about this linguine with clams!
sue | the view from great island says
This has been on my to-make list for way too long, you've inspired me to get to it ~ I love mine white, with tiny clams, yum!
Nina says
Thank you for BEAUTIFUL reminder to make this lovely dish, forgive me, but I will use Angel Hair or Capellinni pasta to lower carbs + because clams are so delicate. I would use fettucini if I added mussles + scallops to this recipe plus red pepper flake for a Fra Diavolo version! Uh oh, my tummy is growling...
Jacqui says
Thanks for your comment Nina! I'm glad you liked my post! I think angel hair would go well with the clams! This is my favourite seafood pasta, especially since my Sicilian hubby usually makes it for me! I think I fell in love with him because of this dish! The way to this girl's heart is def through her stomach!!
Rosa says
Mmmm I love all things pasta and my husband loves seafood. I’ll definitely have to try this one. Thanks for sharing!
Jacqui says
I'm sure you and your hubby will love this dish Rosa!
Jenna says
Wowie! I didn't have all the fresh ingredients you used, which I'm jealous about. But I made a similar version and it came out fantastic. Ciao!
Jacqui says
So happy you enjoyed this recipe Jenna!