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.
Amy Hyson says
Thank you so much! Your recipe is easy to make. I made this dish the other night for the first time! Never cooked clams before. They came out pretty good. My husband loved this dish. So delicious
I will definitely make this again!!
Jacqui says
Happy to hear that this pasta vongole was a hit Amy! It's practically a staple in our house as we love it so much!
Mark says
Nir sure if the measurements on the amount of pasta.. these measurements do not make any sense to me. The measurements seem to be the same and the gr. make no sense
960-1,200 g linguine (11-14oz) .???
Jacqui says
Hi Mark, thanks for your comment. I'm not sure where you are seeing the quantities you quote. This is an old recipe so it doesn't have the weight conversion tool but I have written both metric and imperial quantities which are 320-400 g linguine (11-14oz) or vermicelli or spaghetti, meaning 320-400 grams of pasta are equivalent to 11-14 ounces. 320 grams is equivalent to 80 grams per person, whereas 400 grams will be 100 grams per person when making this recipe for 4.
Jacqui says
Hi Mark, after answering you, I now see where the problem is. You have clicked on the recipe quantities 3x, meaning for 12 people. If you want to make this recipe for 12 you'll need to multiply the 11-14oz by 3.
Carsten Bleis says
Hi Jacqui
Linguine all Vongole is for sure also my wife’s and my favorite Italian dish!
Living in Beijing – not so far from the sea by Chinese standards. Being this marriage's cook I do our seafood shopping in one of the seafood markets here and many years ago I came across an Italian chef buying clams there for his home meal that day – that was the beginning of a long friendship although my friend now has left Beijing where I have lived the past 26 years with my Chinese wife. In the beginning she frowned at the mere thought of even eating pasta over the softer Chinese noodles – then I introduced Linguine alle Vongole and she was hooked. We have just had pasta 3 days in a row with the clam dish as the Saturday part – she wants to have linguine alle vongole every other Saturday as we have the basic rule that Saturdays are for seafood leaving me time to spend in the market. This dish has also become part of our Christmas food.
Have always been buying “Manila clams” as these were the ones me chef friend bought and the ones that hooked my wife on to my cooking. I have occassionally seen the Vongola Verace seen these clams here, so next time around we will try them as sand can sometimes be a problem even when I have tried to purge them for hours and change water several times.
Thanks for giving me inspiration on an almost weekly basis.
Jacqui says
Hi Carsten, thank you for your review. I'm thrilled to hear that you and your wife love the linguine alle vongole so much. We make it very often too, especially when we have guests! I'm also happy you find my blog inspirational, such a nice thing to say!
Leonie Chard says
Perfect!!! I did salt the pasta water and it was delicious! Easy and so flavourful.
booch says
So you don't add any liquid to the clams when you cook them?
Jacqui says
Hi Booch, thanks for your comment. We don't add any liquid when first cooking the clams to open them. We find the clams produce water themselves. But some people add a little wine or water.
JUDITH says
I plan to make this as part of a Christmas Day Sicilian dinner as we just got back from a nice long trip to Sicily and are missing the food. Do you think it's something I could prep in advance? I plan to use a combination of fresh and canned clams. Thank you for a great recipe.
Jacqui says
Hi Judith, thanks for your comment. I asked my Sicilian husband whose recipe this is and he doesn't recommend making it in advance as he says the clams will dry out. However, it doesn't take that long to make and of course you can chop the garlic etc, as long as you put it in a sealed container, in advanace. Merry Christmas from Verona.
Hayley Dhanecha says
I really want to make this recipe, what can I use instead of clams to make this recipe vegan as I am inviting a couple of vegan friends to my place.
Jacqui says
Hi Hayley, thanks for your question. This is a classic Italian seafood recipe so making vegan would require changing the recipe steps. However, you could use oyster mushrooms instead of clams and just add them to the pan when cooking the garlic and peperoncino. Alternatively make aglio, olio, peperoncino which is a similar but vegan recipe. https://www.the-pasta-project.com/pasta-aglio-olio-peperoncino-alla-borbonica/
Lori says
I’m not a wine drinker or a fan of it. What could I substitute in its place?
Jacqui says
Hi Lori, thanks for your question. You can just omit the wine in this recipe.
Mindy S says
I’m not a big fan of clams. What are some good substitutes? Do I have to cook it any differently?
Jacqui says
Hi Mindy, this recipe would work with mussels and the cooking method would be the same.
michele says
Such nice and easy recipe, one I think really showcases the wonderful taste of the clams, to me more so than a sauce with tomato. I used fettuccine, as that is what I had on hand, but it is really a bit too thick and next time I will make sure to get linguine. I used manila clams, and a bit more than the amount in the recipe, as I love clams. This meant there was plenty of sauce, yum! I didn't skimp on the garlic or peperoncino, and the balance was perfect.
Another keeper.
Magdalena says
I love this recipe - I've made it several times. For the first time, the mussels I made really taste good. I come from a country where shells are not very well known, and now I live somewhere where the choice is huge. So thank you for this recipe. Which seafood recipe do you recommend I try next?
gp says
Cook clams how? Instructions say cook clams in frying pan. Alone? no oil, water, broth? just shells on metal?
Jacqui says
Hi George thanks for your comment. Yes, just place washed and closed clams in a dry pan and cook them covered until they all open and release any liquid. We have made this recipe this way many many times. It works.
Ann Peiponen says
Your recipe is the same as the one I’ve been using for years, after discovering it in the original Marcella Hassan cookbook. It is delicious, and so quick to make
Emmie Perry says
Hi! How would you incorporate tomatoes if that was desired?
Can’t wait to give this a try!!!
robert says
Just throw some whole cherry tomatoes in when you cook the garlic & parsley. They will burst to add great flavor and color to the dish.
AlyssaW says
Just made this tonight for my family. It was a huge hit! They loved it so much and said it tastes just as good or better than our favorite local Italian restaurant! They want it again tomorrow night. Thank you so much for a delicious recipe! ❤️
AlyssaW says
Forgot to give it 5 stars!!
Deborah says
I have to admit that I've never eaten clams before. We have frozen ones available here. Would that work?
Jo says
We only have access to frozen clams too. It does work, however you need to heat them through according to the packet instructions first, and then continue on with the recipe from when the clams are cooked.
They will already have been purged, so that's one step done for you.
Amber says
5 stars, better than expected.
Can you kindly tell me where I can find all your recipes please.
Jacqui says
Thanks for your comment Amber, I'm happy you enjoyed this linguine alle vongole recipe. It's one of my favourites! Re my recipes you can find them all here on the Pasta project site. You can browswe by recipe type (vegetarians, seafood, baked etc) or search for your favourite pasta type or recipe ingredient using the search box.
Dan says
Jacqueline, if i add tomatoes, do u concur with Robert.(I'm sorry, idk if Robert is even affiliated or just spitballing) "Just throw some in with the garlic and parsley. Are we talking a pint. 2 pints. 6 cherries total? Just looking for a starting point. Also. Have u ever tried adding pasta water ton the sauce? I don't have a great reason other than my Italian grandma puts some in almost every dish with a sauce or gravy.
Jacqui says
Hi Dan, I don't have a recipe for vongole with tomatoes (yet). However, we would add the tomatoes before adding the opened vongole and allow the sauce to cook a bit especially if you are using fresh tomatoes. They need time to soften and you don't want the vongole to overcook. Some Italians, use passata (purée) instead of fresh tomatoes. I think fresh are better especially small cherry tomatoes which you don't have to peel. Depending on how tomatoey you want your sauce, you can use about 400g (14oz) of cherry tomatoes or passata. I don't know what that is in pints! Re pasta cooking water, you can add it if the sauce seems dry but there's also the filtered clam liquid for that purpose.
Jo says
I've added cherry tomatoes when making this, and they add a lovely, bright, and fresh flavour. A handful, or more, depending on how big the cherry tomatoes are and how much you like them.
I also add in some pasta water as it helps emulsify the sauce. Just add a bit at a time until you get the consistency you want. If you add too much, the sauce will be watery. I sometimes also add butter...
Albert Bassano says
Thanks very much this recipe and for the myriad of others that you so generously publish; I look forward to every one of them! My question relates to the use of bottled clam juice as a supplement to naturally occurring juices in the clams. What do you think?
Jacqui says
Hi Albert, thanks for your comment. I'm happy you like the recipes I publish! Re clam juice, to be honest I've never tried using it in cooking as we use the liquid fresh clams produce themselves. I would think if it's a natural clam juice, it should work but you might want to check how much salt (sodium) is in it and adjust the recipe accordingly. I also can't tell you how much to use. If you do try it, I'd love to hear how it turns out.
Clement says
This was the first recipe I tried for vongole and it was delicious. I actually tried a couple others afterwards, just out of curiosity, including those where you cook the claims with garlic and wine, and none came out as tasty as this one which was the very best. And my wife who lives linguine alle vongole agrees!
So I highly recommend it and am thankful of the author!
Jacqui says
Dear Clement, thanks for your very complimentary comment. I'll show it to my hubby Salvatore since this is really his version of alle vongole! We agree with you. It's better when you open the clams separately. I've actually given up ordering pasta with clams in restaurants because it's never as good as this one.All the best from Verona!
Jeff says
My clams were Manila, not the vongola verace. When I cooked them as you directed, I had almost no remaining liquid (I did cook them about 5 mins and they were perfectly tender). Consequently, I ended up having to add a spoonful of pasta water to the oil/garlic/pepper/clam/wine/parsley mix, but it was still a little less “juicy” than I’d like (and as your photos show). Any thoughts on making this a little juicier? Is more pasta water the way to go? Flavor was still delicious.
Jacqui says
Hi Jeff thanks for your comment. I guess different types of clams may produce less liquid. The reason we open them separately is to prevent any sandy liquid getting into the sauce. But if your clams don't produce liquid you could open them in the pot with the oil, garlic, wine etc. But I would suggest purging them well before. If the finished dish is still a bit dry for your taste, yes add a bit more pasta cooking water and perhaps a dash of extra virgin olive oil! Some Italians make a red alle vongole with tomato sauce. You could also try that. Open clams separately, saute garlic, peperoncino etc add tomato sauce to it, simmer for a few minutes then add the clams with their liquid filtered (if any). I'm glad to hear your alle vongole was still delicious. It's my favourite seafood pasta recipes.