Al dente strands of spaghetti tossed with tender mussels and clams cooked in white wine, all covered in a perfectly seasoned shellfish broth dotted with fresh garlic, cherry tomatoes, and chopped parsley. Hands down, this dish of Spaghetti with Mussels & Clams, is my favorite of all the dishes we have cooked in class so far. The local mussels and clams are unlike any I have ever tasted before—just gathered from the bay, these shellfish have the perfect balance of natural sweetness with a touch of that fresh sea taste.
Homemade Spaghetti
This recipe has three simple steps: cooking the pasta until right before it reaches al dente, steaming the shellfish in white wine and olive oil plus aromatics, and creating a sauce from the strained shellfish cooking liquid. It is as easy as it sounds. Once you complete these steps, you simply toss all of the ingredients together to combine all of the delicious flavors and garnish each stunning plate with additional chopped Italian parsley. Spaghetti con Vongole e Cozze is an elegant dish perfect for dinner this week, alongside a basket of garlic bread and a bottle of your favorite crisp, white wine.
(To view the recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Spaghetti con Vongole e Cozze
Ingredients:
- Cook 1 lb. of spaghetti in salted, boiling water until it is 2 minutes shy of being al dente. Drain and set aside.
- For the shellfish: Clean 1 lb. of mussels and 1 lb. of clams, and place the cleaned shellfish, plus crushed garlic cloves (peeled), and a handful of chopped Italian parsley in a large pot. Cover the ingredients with a dry white wine, cover the pan, and cook over medium heat until mussels and clams open. (This happens very quickly, so check it after about 8-10 minutes.) Remove the shellfish from of the pan with a slotted spoon and strain the cooking liquid through a find mesh sieve. Reserve this cooking liquid for the sauce.
- For the sauce: In a large saucepan place 2 garlic cloves (sliced), ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes; cook on medium-high heat until garlic is lightly browned. Add 1 pint of halved cherry tomatoes and cook , stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes or until the tomatoes are tender. Add the reserved cooked mussels and clams, and the strained cooking liquid to the pan. Add the pasta and toss the mixture with tongs over a medium flame, until the pasta is al. Serve the dish with a sprinkling of pepper and extra chopped parsley.
Directions:
Tagged: clams, crushed red pepper flakes, culinary school, externship, garlic, Italian parsley, Italy, Mami Camilla cooking school, mussels, Sorrento, spaghetti, white wine
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