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Spaghetti Vongole – a simple Italian classic dish of clams cooked in olive oil, garlic, wine and chilli, tossed together with spaghetti. It makes an elegant and flavourful dinner, ready in 20 minutes.
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Sometimes simple is best – especially when it comes to pasta.
Making a meal where you’re using just a few quality ingredients, without having to chop up and/or fry off meat, is not only a time saver, but I think it makes you appreciate how seriously good and comforting a simple bowl of pasta can be.
This vongole (clam) spaghetti is quick to prepare, light and yet incredibly satisfying. It falls into my go-to group of extra-simple pasta dishes – which also has some of these favourites ⤵️:
📋 Ingredients
Full recipe with ingredient quantities and detailed steps are in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Fresh clams – or you can use frozen, then defrosted clams (check out the notes section on my recipe card for more info on this).
- Pasta – spaghetti is the classic pairing, but linguine or tagliatelle or also great.
- Good extra-virgin olive oil – for flavour. Using enough olive oil is also important to give the dish that decadent ‘mouth-feel’.
- Garlic, wine, pepper, chilli and a little stock are easy, minimal-prep additions that add lots of extra flavour.
- And of course some fresh parsley and lemon to finish the whole thing off.
📋 Process Overview
- First of all we boil up the spaghetti. Whilst it’s cooking, saute garlic, chilli flakes and black pepper in plenty of olive oil (I use extra-virgin for flavour).
- Add wine, a stock cube (or stock pot) and the clams and cook for a few minutes, until the clams open.
- Add in the cooked pasta, toss together and serve with lots of fresh parsley and lemon wedges.
👩🍳PRO TIP Save some of the pasta cooking water when draining the pasta. The addition of a few splashes of this lovely starchy water, mixed in to the pasta with the garlic, olive oil and wine adds a slightly creamy flavour.
🍽️ What to serve it with
🤔 How to eat the clams in a vongole
Let’s not be shy about how to approach the eating of this dish. I know shells can sometimes be a little overwhelming for people though!
We’ve got a few different approaches:
- Approach 1: Swirl up a forkful of spaghetti and eat that first, then pick up the clam shell with your fingers and suck the clam out of the shell. It should come away very easily (they don’t try to cling on to the shell as much as mussels). Discard the shell on the side of your plate or onto a side plate.
- Approach 2: Hold a clam shell with your fingers and use a fork to pull out the clam. Then with the clam still on your fork, swirl up a bit of spaghetti onto the fork too, and eat!
- Approach 3: Use your fork to pop each clam out of its shell first. Place the empty shells on the side of your plate or onto a side plate and eat the clams mixed with the spaghetti.
Personally I use approach number one. Which one works for you?
🐟 More fantastic seafood recipes
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Spaghetti Vongole Recipe
A simple Italian classic dish of clams cooked in olive oil, garlic, wine and chilli, tossed together with spaghetti. It makes an elegant and flavourful dinner, ready in 20 minutes.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water for 1 minute less than the instructions on the pack. Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta cooking water.
300 g (10.5oz) dried spaghetti
- While the spaghetti is cooking, heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a large frying pan (skillet) or large saucepan (one that you have a lid for).
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Add the garlic, chilli flakes and black pepper and cook, while stirring for 1 minute, until the garlic is fragrant.
4 cloves garlic, ½ tsp chilli flakes, ½ tsp black pepper
- Add the clams, white wine and stock pot/cube. Place a lid on the pan and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the clam shells open.
90 ml (⅓ cup) dry white wine, 1 fish stock pot or crumbled stock cube, 1 kg (2.2lb) fresh small clams in shells
- Remove the lid and discard any clams that have not opened.
- Add the cooked pasta and a few good splashes of the pasta cooking water, then sprinkle over the chopped parsley.
4 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- Toss together with a set of tongs, adding more pasta water if you’d like more liquid.
- Divide between bowls and serve with lemon wedges and a sprinkling of black pepper.
1 lemon, black pepper
✎ Notes
I prefer to use fresh clams, but frozen work well too.
Fresh
If you’re using fresh clams, check that they’re all closed before cooking. If any are a little bit open, give them a tap and they should close. If they don’t close, discard the open ones.
Once cooked, all the clams should be open. Discard any that stay closed.
Frozen
If you’re using frozen clams, defrost them first and drain off any liquid before using. The open/close rules don’t apply for frozen clams.
Optional extras for this recipe:
- Diced cherry tomatoes (add right at the end)
- Finely diced shallots (add with the garlic)
- A splash (2-3 tbsp) double/heavy cream and or 2-3tbsp grated parmesan (stir in right at the end).
Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (this recipe serves 4).
Nutrition
Calories: 471kcalCarbohydrates: 62gProtein: 16gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 273mgPotassium: 284mgFiber: 3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 531IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 54mgIron: 2mg
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