Spaghetti alle vongole!

Summer equals to seafood, doesn't it? Well, who hasn't had a plate of 'spaghetti alle vongole' during holidays in Italy? Spaghetti with clams is one of the typical dish of the Mediterranean cuisine. Clams are exceptionally good and very easy to prepare. This is one of the dish I cook at least three times a week and the biggest fans are the kids!

This is what you need for four persons;

- one bag of fresh vongole (clams)Deepfrozen are fine as well

- 400 grams of spaghetti or linguine (count 100g/person)

- good quality olive oil

- one small garlic chopped

- a cup of white wine for cooking

- salt & chili flakes

- 1 cup of parsley (1/2 cup to boil the clams with & 1/2 for decoration)

Put the clams to drain in salt water for at least an hour in order to remove the sand. Take a large pan and heat it with 2 tablespoons of oliveoil, 1 garlic clove and some chiliflakes. Now add the clams and pour over a cup of white wine & a half cup of chopped parsley. Cover with a lid and let it go on high heat until all the clams have opened (it takes around 10 minutes). Be careful not to overcook! Turn off the heat and set aside the pan. In order to make the pasta even more tastier I suggest that you filter the cooking water from the clams through a strainer into a big glass and use it when you cook the pasta.

Cook the pasta slightly al dente and drain it. Toss the pasta directly into the pan with the clams, warm it up on low heat, season with some salt and 2 tablespoons of oliveoil.

You could also take off the shells of most of the clams and just leave only a few in their shells as a garnish. Our advice is to keep them all in their shells - the sea flavor will be more intense. Before serving sprinkle over the rest of the chopped parsley. Another tip is to try the grated bottarga (bottarga is dried, salted roe from either the Mediterranean tuna or the gray mullet (mugine) as a kind of parmesan on the spaghetti before serving. A unique flavor!

PS. If you are visiting Sardinia I recommend you to try one of the many amazing varieties of white & sparkling wines from this beautiful island. I prefer Vermentino di Gallura as a firm wine. What comes to the sparkling ones my absolut summer choice is the local bubbles Brut Torbato Spumante from the famous winery Sella & Mosca!

BUON APPETITO!

Salla & Ella