Spaghetti alle Vongole

Ingredients

• 1 kg small clams, in the shell
• 400 g spaghetti
• 5 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 150 ml dry white wine
• a big handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. Purge the clams

   Soak the clams in cold salted water for 30 minutes, then lift them out of the water rather than pouring them out. Any that stay open when tapped go in the bin. This step is the difference between dinner and a mouthful of grit.

   30 min

2. Warm the garlic gently

   Start the garlic, oil and chilli in a cold wide pan and bring them slowly up to a sizzle. Browned garlic turns this dish bitter and there is nowhere for it to hide.

   4 min

3. Undercook the pasta

   Cook the spaghetti two minutes short of al dente, and save a mugful of the water. It finishes in the clam juices, which is where it picks up all its flavour.

4. Open the clams

   Turn the heat to high, tip in the clams and the wine and clamp on a lid. They are done the moment they gape, about 3 minutes — leave them longer and they shrink to rubber buttons.

   3 min

5. Finish in the pan

   Add the drained spaghetti and toss hard over the heat with a splash of pasta water until the liquid turns cloudy and clings to the strands. Add the parsley and no cheese: parmesan over clams is the one rule everyone agrees on.

   2 min