L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES W ith the arrival of summer in Italy, it's defi- nitely time to think about the pasta recipes that are celebrated during this holiday season. My all time favorite pasta, that I love to eat during my summer vacation on the beach, is definitely spaghetti alle vongole – spaghetti with clams. Obviously you can eat this year round, but I associate it with being at the beach during the sum- mer and I especially love going to the local fish monger to buy my seafood. There is nothing better than visiting a fish monger in Italy located by the town's port. You just know you are getting the fre- shest seafood, and if you're lucky, you might witness the local fisher- man bringing in their catch after many hours out at sea. Spaghetti with clams is a dish traditionally from Naples. Pa- lourde or carpet-shell clams are used. In Italy they are known as vongole veraci. In Tuscany and Liguria, it is common to also use arselle or telline, which are those tiny "bean-clam" that you find at the water's edge under the sand, although then the pasta dish is spe- cifically called spaghetti con le ar- selle, as opposed to vongole which are bigger. I often find myself judging a restaurant on the basis of how good their spaghetti alle vongole is. This dish is so quick and easy to make, I really could make it more throughout the year, but buying clams in the city isn't so- mething I do often. There are two main ways to make spaghetti with clams, and the main difference is whether you add tomato or not. The addition of tomato is a perso- nal choice, which many purists say shouldn't be included. So when ordering, it is often specified whether it is in bianco, i.e. without tomatoes, or with. If I do add to- matoes, I use only a few little cherry tomatoes chopped very fi- nely, or just a couple tablespoons of tomato pasta sauce. Apart from the clams, and the spaghetti, you only need some white wine, garlic, parsley and if you like a little heat, a small amount of fresh chilli. We spend three weeks of Au- gust in Terracina, which is about 100 km south of Rome. I love our time there and much of that has to do with the frequent visits to our favorite fish monger, Roberto Car- pignoli. We are often spoilt when we visit. He hand selects each von- gola for me – (yes, he really does that) and sometimes we find so- mething extra in our bags once we get home, or get offered free tastes of oysters or cannolicchi while we are waiting to be served. These are opened with skilled hands and then handed to be enjoyed imme- diately. In Terracina, after the local fi- shermen bring in their catch, there is an auction which the public can watch. This is where the restau- rants and fishmongers will buy their seafood. It is wonderful to experience, the yelling by the auc- tioneer, and the almost silent and secret bidding done by those in the crowd. It's not until you hear "sold" that you know who had the final bid. Here you will see many boxes of mussels, clams, octopus, shrimp, squid, fish of all shapes and sizes and also large tuna or swordfish wheeled in on trolleys. When eating seafood pasta in Italy, having it with cheese grated on top is always frowned upon. Most restaurants would look at you in horror if you ask for it or they may refuse to give it to you at all. This seems to have changed over the last few years though with the addition of Pecorino Romano for pasta recipes with clams and mussels. The sharp saltiness of the Pecorino Romano actually works well with them, although you must really be careful about salting the pasta water and the dish itself be- cause the salt from the clams and mussels, added with the Pecorino Romano, provides more than suf- ficient salt to this dish. This pasta dish is extremely rich, but cer- tainly a decadent alternative to the more classic spaghetti con le von- gole or spaghetti con le cozze (mussels). The recipe I will publish here is my classic favorite though, and that is without adding the Pecorino Romano. SPAGHETTI WITH CLAMS ■ 500g clams (vongole veraci) ■ olive oil ■ 1 clove garlic (chopped fi- nely) ■ 2 -3 tablespoons chopped parsley ■ 60ml (generous splash) white wine ■ 1 teaspoon chopped fresh red chilli ■ 1 tablespoon of home made tomato pasta sauce (optional) ■ 250g spaghetti 1. The most important thing about cooking clams is to ensure they have "purged" themselves of any sand that may be inside their shell. When we buy our clams, they are sold in a bag of filtered seawater, and I usually leave them inside there until I'm ready to use them.  While I prefer to buy clams the day I intend to cook them, if you do buy them the day before, you can store them in the fridge. Wrap them in a damp tea- TONI BRANCATISANO towel, and put them in a bowl for the night.  Save the water they came in though and let them sit in it again one last time as you are preparing ingredients etc. for the recipe. Throw away any clams that have a broken shell. Wash them under running water before you put them into the pan. 2. For the spaghetti, bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. 3. Using a large, deep frying pan, add a splash of olive oil (about 3-4 tablespoons), garlic, and chilli pepper.  Cook gently on a medium low heat to flavor the olive oil, and avoid burning the garlic. 4. Add the clams to the frying pan and cover.  Increase flame to high and cook until they open, about 5 minutes, depending on size of the clams. Remove from the heat immediately to avoid overcooking the delicate meat of the clams. Using tongs, remove clams from the frying pan, leaving juices behind. (Discard any clams that haven't opened). You can re- move half the clams from their shells, leaving the remaining clams whole. 5. Add spaghetti to boiling wa- ter and set timer for half of requi- red cooking time. 6. Bring juices from clams to the boil, add the tablespoon of to- mato pasta sauce, half the amount of parsley and a generous splash of white wine.  Combine well. 7. Add the pasta when the ti- mer goes off, conserving about a cup of the pasta water.  The rest of the cooking time for the pasta will be completed in the frying pan with the juices. 8. Cook on high to cook the pasta but also to reduce juices to a 'creamy' sauce that will lightly coat the spaghetti. (The 'creami- ness' comes from the starch in the pasta). If it becomes dry, add a small amount of pasta water, a lit- tle at a time (like adding stock when you make risotto), until the spaghetti is cooked. 9. Toss through the clams and remaining freshly chopped par- sley. 10. Serve immediately with some thick slices of Italian bread toasted from the oven. *Bread is essential to mop up any remaining juices on your plate, to fare la scarpetta as they say in Italy. Spaghetti con le vongole are a delicious dish often associated with the summer, but that you can have all year round. Photo: Toni Brancatisano Of course, don't forget to buy fresh bread for the scarpetta: a true Italian ritual. Photo: Toni Brancatisano Italy's summer favorite: spaghetti con le vongole

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