Spaghetti alle Vongole

Ingredients

• 200g spaghetti or linguine
• 1.5 lbs fresh littleneck or manila clams, scrubbed
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1–2 anchovy fillets (optional but recommended)
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• Large handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• Olive oil
• Salt

Method

1. Soak clams in cold salted water for 20 minutes to purge sand. Drain and scrub.
2. Cook pasta in well-salted water until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water.
3. Meanwhile, heat a generous glug of olive oil in a wide pan over medium. Add garlic and anchovies (if using); cook until garlic is golden and anchovies melt, ~2 minutes.
4. Add red pepper flakes, then pour in the wine. Raise heat to high and add clams. Cover and cook until clams open, ~4–5 minutes. Discard any that don’t open.
5. Add the par-cooked pasta directly to the pan. Toss over high heat, adding pasta water a splash at a time, until pasta is al dente and the sauce coats it, ~2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat, toss with parsley, and drizzle with good olive oil. Serve immediately.