There are few pasta dishes as instantly satisfying as spaghetti alle vongole. Briny clams, white wine, garlic, a little chilli, and good olive oil — that is all you need. It is a dish born on the Neapolitan coastline, eaten at rickety tables a few steps from the sea, and it tastes best when kept exactly that simple.
There are two versions in Italy: in bianco (without tomato) and in rosso (with tomato). This recipe follows the white version — the purist’s choice, and the one that lets the clams speak for themselves.
Serves: 4 Prep time: 20 minutes (plus 1 hour soaking) Cook time: 20 minutes Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
1kg fresh clams (vongole veraci if you can find them) 400g spaghetti 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 small dried red chilli, crumbled (or a pinch of chilli flakes) 150ml dry white wine A generous handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped Salt and black pepper
Method
Step 1 — Purge the clams
Place the clams in a large bowl of cold salted water and leave to soak for at least 1 hour. This encourages them to expel any sand. Drain, rinse well, and discard any clams that are already open and do not close when tapped.
Step 2 — Cook the pasta
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for 2 minutes less than the packet instructions — it will finish cooking in the sauce. Reserve a large mug of pasta water before draining.
Step 3 — Build the base
While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large, wide pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and chilli and cook gently for 1–2 minutes until the garlic is soft and fragrant but not coloured. Watch it carefully — burnt garlic will ruin the dish.
Step 4 — Open the clams
Turn the heat up to high. Add the clams to the pan and pour in the white wine. Cover with a lid and cook for 3–4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the clams have opened. Remove from the heat and discard any that remain closed.
Step 5 — Bring it together
Add the drained spaghetti directly to the pan with the clams. Return to a medium-high heat and toss everything together, adding splashes of the reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce and help it emulsify into a glossy, light coating around the pasta. This should take 1–2 minutes.
Step 6 — Finish and serve
Remove from the heat. Add the chopped parsley, a generous drizzle of your best extra virgin olive oil, and a crack of black pepper. Taste before adding any salt — the clams are naturally briny. Serve immediately in warmed bowls.
Tips and notes
The pasta water is not optional. The starchy cooking water is what binds the sauce and gives it body — add it gradually and keep tossing until you have a silky, cohesive dish rather than a watery one.
Do not add cheese. This is a rule in Italy and it exists for good reason — Parmesan has no place in a seafood pasta.
If you cannot find fresh clams, good-quality clams in white wine from a jar or tin are a perfectly acceptable substitute. Drain and rinse them, skip the soaking step, and add them at the end just to warm through.
For the in rosso version, add 200g of good passata or a few chopped San Marzano tomatoes to the pan after the garlic and cook for 5 minutes before adding the clams.
Shop the recipe
The quality of your olive oil matters enormously in a dish this simple. Our shop stocks a carefully selected range of Italian extra virgin olive oils, along with premium spaghetti from producers including Benedetto Cavalieri and Afeltra — both made with durum wheat and dried slowly for the best texture and flavour. A dish like this deserves the right ingredients.
Buon Appetito!
