Guido Pedrelli, the mastermind behind Nonna Box, has honed his culinary expertise for decades, inspired by family feasts in Emilia-Romagna. Mentored by his restaurateur nonna, he mastered Italian classics and furthered his skills with professional culinary studies in desserts and gelato making from Mec3. Today, he shares this rich legacy and authentic recipes through Nonna Box.
Expertise: Italian cuisine, Pasta, Pizza, Pastry, Dessert
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Are you dreaming of a warm summer evening on the patio of a restaurant in Naples, Italy overlooking the sparkling Mediterranean sea with a glass of crisp white wine and a delicious plate of spaghetti alle vongole to devour? Well, we can’t magically transport you to Naples, but we can introduce you to this scrumptious and easy-to-prepare pasta dish with fresh clams that you can cook at home to bring a bit of traditional Neapolitan cuisine to your table. Keep reading, we even have expert tips for cleaning the clams!
You won’t need much in the way of kitchen equipment to make this easy and delicious seafood recipe. Here is the list:
A large pot for boiling water.
A large skillet or sauce pan for cooking the clams and sauce.
A knife and cutting board.
If we had to rate spaghetti alle vongole on a scale of 1 to 10 for recipe difficulty, we would give it a 2 or 3 because it’s a breeze, except for cleaning and prepping the clams which takes a little more skill and patience. However, cleaning aside, this recipe can be done in under one hour!
Ingredients
Clams (2-3 lbs) – In Italy, the main clam used in this recipe is fresh Veraci clams or Mediterranean Wedge shell clams. These are tiny clams about the size of a thumbnail. These types of clams aren’t as readily available outside of Italy, so you can substitute with any small clam. For example, small Cherrystone or Littleneck clams are both great options that are fairly easy to find in much of the United States and work very well in our experience.
Dry spaghetti pasta (1 lb) – a package of long pasta such as spaghetti or linguine works very well (but not angel hair pasta as its too thin).
White wine (½ to ¾ cups) – any still dry white wine you have in the fridge will work.
Extra virgin olive oil (6-8 Tbsp) – you want to use good quality oil as this is not a red sauce dish, so the taste of the oil really comes through.
Butter (1 Tbsp) – this is an optional and can be left out if you don’t like the taste or are counting calories.
Garlic (2 cloves) – finely chopped or sliced, any way you cut it we love garlic, but if you don’t you can certainly leave it out.
Red pepper flakes (2 tsp) – this is also an optional ingredient and can easily be left out if you don’t want a spicy dish.
Flat-leafed parsley (1 bunch)- if you don’t have fresh, frozen will work too. This is a great herb to grow in your windowsill so you always have it fresh when you need it.
Lemon (1) – as you will be using the zest of the lemon as well as the juice, we highly recommend non-treated, organic lemons.
How to make spaghetti alle vongole step-by-step
Carefully clean and prep the clams as described in this page, tossing out any bad clams.
In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil.
When the water is boiling, add the pasta. photo 1
You will need to set a timer with the al dente cooking time minus 1 or 2 minutes and then drain the pasta before it is fully cooked (you will have the clam sauce almost ready at this point).
Save a bit of pasta cooking water to add to the sauce at the end if necessary.
Heat most of the olive oil and half of the butter (optional) in a large skillet over medium heat. photo 2
Add chopped or sliced garlic and cook until golden, then add red pepper flakes (optional). photo 3
Pour in the wine about one quarter inch deep and then add clams and cover the pan so you steam the clams for several minutes (do not boil them, they shouldn’t be submerged). photo 4–5
Uncover the clams when most have opened, and then remove and discard any that haven’t opened on their own.
Use tongs and a fork to remove some of the clams from their shells and toss the shells (this is not a required step, but can make it easier to eat, especially for kids).
At this point, you can add the drained spaghetti to the pan and toss with the sauce and clams. Add a small amount of pasta cooking water if needed, but do not make the sauce too watery, and cook until the pasta is al dente. photo 6
Stir in the chopped parsley (reserve a small amount for garnishing), lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Drizzle with remaining olive oil, season lightly if needed with salt or pepper and toss one more time before plating.
Garnish the plate with the remaining parsley.
Expert Tips for cleaning the clams
Clams are full of protein and key nutrients and have such a wonderful briny, sweet flavor. However, as they are shellfish, clams can be a little intimidating to cook with. Horror stories of food poisoning from spoiled oysters or other shellfish immediately come to mind. Luckily, it’s not hard to be safe if you follow the few simple rules we have below:
Discard any open or cracked clams before cooking.
Don’t eat any clams that don’t open while cooking, discard them.
Cook clams within 24 hours of purchasing, preferably from a reliable fishmonger or seafood vendor.
Scrub the outsides of the clams gently, but thoroughly, before cooking.
Let the clams soak in fresh water for 20 minutes before cooking to allow them to cycle clean water and purge any sand. If the clams aren’t purged they can add a grainy crunch to the cooked dish, though it is perfectly safe to eat.
If you need to store the clams overnight, you can do so but you need to take precautions to keep them fresh. Put them in the refrigerator in an open container filled with saltwater, as putting them in freshwater or airtight containers for an extended period will kill them.
Variations of spaghetti alle vongole
There are two main versions of this dish, known simply as bianco and rosso, or white and red. Red refers to the presence of tomatoes in the dish. The dish is delicious either way, but the white is the most traditional form, as seen in the recipe below.
To make this recipe in a “red” version, add cherry tomatoes (cut in half or slightly crushed) or chopped Roma tomatoes after you add the wine. This will give the tomatoes enough time to break down and add a sweet acidity to the dish but not turn it into an outright tomato sauce, which is not the goal.
This dish is made up and down the coast of Italy, so many regional variations exist, for example in Liguria they add diced potatoes. There is a lot of experimenting you can do once you master the basics, and it will probably come out great as long as you don’t overpower the briny sweetness of the clams and they remain the star of the dish.
As clams get chewy when reheated, we suggest only making enough of this pasta for one meal. But if you do have leftovers, they will keep for about 24 hours if stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat by adding a small amount of water and a drizzle of oil and cooking in a saucepan over low to medium heat for several minutes.
What wine should I pair with pasta alle vongole recipe?
The white wines produced near Naples, like Greco di Tufo and Falanghina, are great options as they have a crisp acidity and citrus note that play nicely with the briny flavor of the clams in this recipe. If you are looking to go a bit further afield, you might find a racy Viognier or Sancerre (mineral-focused Sauvignon Blanc) to be a good choice.
Spaghetti alle Vongole
A delicious pasta dish made with clams that is one of the most delicious dishes in traditional Neapolitan cuisine.
Fill a pot 3/4 of the way with water, bring to a boil and add kosher salt (or however you normally cook 1lb of pasta).
Add the pasta to the boiling water and remove it when it's a few minutes from being fully cooked, even before it reaches al dente, because you will finish cooking it with the sauce.
Save a bit of pasta water to add later to the sauce at the end, if needed.
Heat most of the extra virgin olive oil and half of the butter (optional) in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add garlic, chopped or finely sliced, and cook until golden before adding red pepper flakes.
Pour in the white wine (about one quarter of an inch deep) and add the fresh clams and cover the pan to steam cook them for several minutes.
When most of the clams open, uncover and then remove and discard any that haven't opened yet.
Use tongs and a fork to remove some of the clams from their shells and discard the shells (this is not a required step, but can make it easier to plate and enjoy the dish, you can leave them all in the shell if you prefer).
Add the drained spaghetti to the pan and toss with the sauce and clams. Add a small amount of reserved pasta water if needed, but do not make the sauce too watery. Keep cooking until the pasta is al dente.
Remove from heat and stir in the chopped parsley (reserve a small amount for garnishing), lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Drizzle with remaining extra virgin olive oil, toss one more time, and plate. Garnish the finished dish with the remaining parsley.
Notes
Variations of spaghetti alle vongole
There are two main versions of this dish, known simply as bianco and rosso, or white and red. Red refers to the presence of tomatoes in the dish. The dish is delicious either way, but the white is the most traditional form, as seen in the recipe below.To make this recipe in a “red” version, add cherry tomatoes (cut in half or slightly crushed) or chopped Roma tomatoes after you add the wine. This will give the tomatoes enough time to break down and add a sweet acidity to the dish but not turn it into an outright tomato sauce, which is not the goal.This dish is made up and down the coast of Italy, so many regional variations exist, for example in Liguria they add diced potatoes. There is a lot of experimenting you can do once you master the basics, and it will probably come out great as long as you don’t overpower the briny sweetness of the clams and they remain the star of the dish.
Guido Pedrelli, the mastermind behind Nonna Box, has honed his culinary expertise for decades, inspired by family feasts in Emilia-Romagna. Mentored by his restaurateur nonna, he mastered Italian classics and furthered his skills with professional culinary studies in desserts and gelato making from Mec3. Today, he shares this rich legacy and authentic recipes through Nonna Box.
