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Pasta

Spaghetti alle Vongole (Spaghetti with Clams)

Spaghetti alle vongole is a cult dish of Italian cooking, loved from north to south, with all the flavors and aromas of the sea and summer.
Recipe Spaghetti alle Vongole (Spaghetti with Clams)
  • Difficulty Medium
  • Preparation 20 minutes
  • Cooking 25 minutes
  • Servings for 4 people

Spaghetti alle vongole is one of the most iconic dishes in Italian cuisine, a perfect symbol of the Mediterranean culinary tradition. Loved all over Italy, but especially in coastal regions like Campania and Lazio, it’s an extraordinary marriage of simplicity and flavor, where a few fresh ingredients deliver a unique sensory experience. This recipe often takes center stage on summer tables, but it’s so beloved that it’s made all year round, for both a casual lunch and an elegant dinner.

The traditional spaghetti alle vongole recipe calls for just a few ingredients: garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh parsley, clams, and a touch of chile for a hint of heat, all deglazed with dry white wine for a deeper flavor. The clams, small but full of flavor, are the stars of this dish: with their intense aroma of the sea, they give the sauce an unmistakable, delicate taste. For spaghetti alle vongole in bianco (without tomato), the most widely used variety is the carpet shell clam, or vongola verace, but in some areas people prefer lupini (striped venus clams), which are smaller but just as tasty. Spaghetti is the ideal match for this sauce, because it holds on to the flavor and blends perfectly with the aromatics.

Making spaghetti alle vongole also means paying attention to a few essentials, like purging the clams to get rid of the sand and cooking them quickly so their texture isn’t ruined. The end result is a light dish full of character that takes you to the seashore with every forkful, amid the scent of salt air and summer breezes.

Ingredients for 4 people

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Method

  1. To make spaghetti alle vongole, start by placing the clams in a large bowl, cover them with plenty of cold water, and let them sit for 2 to 3 hours, changing the water from time to time. Once they’re clean, sauté a garlic clove in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil, add the clams, deglaze with half a glass of white wine, cover with a lid, and cook until all the clams have opened.
    Clams soaking in a bowl of cold water
    Clams cooking in a covered skillet with garlic and white wine
  2. When all the clams have opened, remove them from the pan and strain the cooking liquid.
    Opened clams removed from the skillet
    Clam cooking liquid strained through a sieve
  3. Shell at least 70% of the clams, keeping a few whole, which will look lovely on the plates.
    Shelled clams, with a few left whole for garnish
  4. In a skillet, combine plenty of chopped parsley, a chopped garlic clove, a chopped chile pepper, and a generous drizzle of olive oil, and sauté for a few moments. Add the strained clam cooking liquid and cook over high heat for a few moments.
    Chopped parsley, garlic, and chile sautéing in olive oil
    Strained clam liquid added to the skillet
  5. Drain the spaghetti al dente, transfer it straight into the skillet, add a little of the pasta cooking water, and finish cooking the pasta in the pan the way you would a risotto. Toward the end, add all the clams, a little more chopped parsley, and half a ladle of pasta cooking water, and toss well until the sauce turns creamy.
    Spaghetti finishing cooking in the clam sauce
    Clams and parsley tossed with the spaghetti
  6. Plate carefully and serve the spaghetti alle vongole piping hot, with an extra sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley if you like. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!
    Plated spaghetti alle vongole sprinkled with fresh parsley

Variations and Alternatives

You can make pasta with clams using whatever pasta you like best: besides spaghetti, we also recommend trying linguine with clams.

Tips

For perfect spaghetti alle vongole, it’s essential to purge the clams properly, so you don’t end up with unpleasant bits of sand on your plate. To purge clams perfectly, we recommend following our guide on How to Clean Clams

Storage

Spaghetti alle vongole should be eaten right away, but if you do have leftovers, put them in a container and keep them in the refrigerator for up to one day.

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