Spaghetti alle Vongole is one of my mother’s favorite pasta dishes of all time. Every time we go to a restaurant that serves this classic Italian seafood dish, there is a 99% chance my mom is ordering it. After years of tasting different variations of this dish, I decided to create my own version filled with all of our favorite elements.
In this version you can find some cherry tomatoes (which makes this dish technically “macchiato” or “stained” as Italians would say), lemon zest for brightness, fresh parsley, and if you can get your hands on it…fresh bottarga (dried mullet roe) for a final dusting.
❤️ Why You’ll Love my Spaghetti Alle Vongole
Despite sounding and tasting incredibly luxurious & delicious, this dish is actually really easy to put together. It uses a handful of ingredients and, once the clams are cleaned and ingredients prepped, it can be made in less than 20 minutes!!
Therefore, if you’re looking to impress someone for dinner with a restaurant-quality meal, this is definitely a pasta to try out!!! Of course, I have plenty of other pasta dishes to browse that also fit the boat, such as Fig & Prosciutto Pasta, Carbonara Pasta, Pistachio Pesto Pasta & more!!!
🍲 Ingredients
Vongole (Cockles) clams – these extra small clams are my favorite when making this pasta. The small size pairs perfectly with the pasta and makes for the most delicious bites… Make sure they get soaked in salt water for about 30 minutes then rinsed and drained.
Garlic – a little goes a long way in this dish.
Red chili pepper – optional, but we love a little spice so I always add it.
Cherry tomatoes – the slight hint of sweet cherry tomato adds a beautiful layer to this dish that makes the dish incomplete without.
Extra virgin olive oil – you want the good stuff for this recipe as it’s at the base of the sauce.
Fresh parsley – you’ll use the stems & the leaves for this one! And if you’re like me, that should excite you…less waste HOLLA!!!
White wine – you only need 1/2 cup so I recommend using a wine you’d actually want to drink after. Just make sure it’s dry and not sweet…like a pinot grigio or my fav sauvignon blanc.
Spaghetti pasta – you can technically use any pasta here, but I definitely recommend at least making it a long noodle.
Lemon – for a little fresh & bright pop.
Bottarga di Muggine – (optional if you can find!) this salted and cured mullet roe is a specialty in Sardegna, Italy where my dad comes from and to me is the final touch that always makes this dish extra luxurious. It’s the perfect little umami finish to this dish!
👩🍳 How to Make Spaghetti Alle Vongole
Clean the Clams
Fill a large bowl with cold water and 1-2 tbsp of salt. Place rinsed clams in the water and let soak for 30min – 1 hour, then drain and rinse.
Start the Sauce
In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add in the whole garlic, chili pepper, and parsley stems. After 1-2 minutes, toss in the cherry tomatoes and allow them to cook another 5 minutes.
Cook the Clams
Add in the white wine and clams, give it a good toss then immediately cover the pan with a tight fitting lid. Gently shake the pan every 30 secs – 1 minute until all the clams have opened (about 5 minutes.) Turn off the heat, and using a slotted spoon, move 75% of the clams to a bowl. Use a fork to remove the clam from its shell, making sure to keep any tomatoes that may have gotten in the shell. Place the clams back into the pan.
Make the Pasta and Toss
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water, 2 minutes under al dente. Then, transfer the pasta and a ladle of starchy pasta water directly into the pan and place it back onto medium heat. Stir it well to bring the sauce together and allow it to thicken.
Final Touches
Cut the heat, and add the fresh parsley and lemon zest. Plate up the pasta and serve with more fresh parsley and/or grated bottarga!
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Tip 1 – make sure you CLEAN the clams if they don’t come clean from the seafood monger…and honestly even if they say they are, I always recommend a good rinse and even at LEAST a 15 minute soak in salt water.
- Tip 2 – Keep a CLOSE eye on the clams, they cook FAST!!! As soon as they are done, remove the clams from the heat so they don’t overcook and become tough. ALSO, make sure you shake the covered pan as they cook so that they move around and evenly cook.
- Tip 3 – Undercook the pasta by 1-2 minutes and finish it in the pan!! This will make the pasta absorb the delicious flavor of the sauce and also the starch it release will very importantly thicken the sauce.
🗒 Substitutions
Some of these items can be hard to find and others are just preferenc..I have a few subs for you…
- Option 1 – CLAMS, if you can’t find cockles, the next best option are Little Neck clams. The cleaning and cooking stays the same, though they may take a little longer.
- Option 2 – TOMATOES, this can be omitted if you want to keep the sauce purely in “bianco” (in white.)
- Option 3 – WINE, while I will argue this is such a wonderful flavor addition to the dish, I understand that some can not cook with it so instead you can simply swap it for clam juice or seafood stock.
🗒 Best served with
- Chilled White Wine
- Toasted Bread
- A light arugula salad
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container and consume within 3 days.
🤔 Common Questions
You want to clean the clams to remove any sand that is still inside the shell. By using salt water (similar to the clam’s home) it creates an environment that promotes the clam to open and close and thus spit out any sand or grit inside the shell.
Something dry and crisp—like Pinot Grigio, Vermentino, or Sauvignon Blanc. If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it.
If a few clams stay shut after 5–7 minutes of steaming, toss them. They were likely dead before cooking!!
This dish is best served fresh. If you need to prep, you can soak the clams and prep the other ingredients in advance, but cook and serve it all right before eating!
Spaghetti alle Vongole
Ingredients
- 1 lb vongole clams, small clams such as cockles or little neck, soaked in salt water for 30 minutes, then rinsed and drained
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 small red chili pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 stems fresh parsley, stems left whole, leaves minced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ box spaghetti
- 1 lemon, zested
- Grated bottarga di muggine, optional, if you can find it!
Instructions
- Fill a large bowl with cold water and 1–2 tablespoons of salt. Add the rinsed clams and let them soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Drain and rinse again.
- In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the whole garlic clove, sliced chili, and parsley stems. Cook for 1–2 minutes, then add the cherry tomatoes and let them soften for another 5 minutes.
- Pour in the white wine and add the clams. Give everything a good toss, then cover the pan tightly with a lid. Cook, shaking the pan gently every 30 seconds to 1 minute, until all the clams have opened (about 5 minutes). Turn off the heat.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer about 75% of the clams to a bowl. Remove the meat from the shells (saving any tomatoes that may have gotten inside) and return the meat to the pan.
- Cook the spaghetti in well-salted boiling water until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Transfer the pasta and a ladle of pasta water directly into the pan with the clams. Return to medium heat and stir well to bring the sauce together.
- Turn off the heat and finish with the minced parsley and lemon zest. Plate and serve immediately, topped with more parsley and grated bottarga, if using.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great pasta!!