Spaghetti with Clams
By Matthew FairmanPublished on December 21, 2022
Time
45 minutes
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Discard any raw clams with unpleasant odors, with cracked or broken shells, or with open shells that won't close when tapped. If you don't have a coffee filter for straining the clam broth, you can use a triple layer of cheesecloth. Because the saltiness of fresh clams can vary, we add less salt than usual to the pasta cooking water.
Instructions
- Combine clams and wine in 12-inch skillet. Cover and cook over medium-high heat, shaking pan occasionally to redistribute, until clams open, 4 to 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer clams to large bowl (discard any unopened clams).
- Line fine-mesh strainer with coffee filter and set over bowl or large measuring cup. Strain clam broth through filter. Set aside 1½ cups broth (if you have less than 1½ cups, add enough water to equal 1½ cups). Shell 24 clams and set aside; discard shells.
- Meanwhile, bring 3 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven. Add pasta and 1½ teaspoons salt and cook, stirring often, until strands are flexible but still very firm in center, about 5 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta.
- Cook oil, garlic, anchovies, and pepper flakes in now-empty Dutch oven over medium-high heat, using tongs to break anchovies into small pieces, until garlic is just beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add pasta, reserved clam broth, and ½ cup cooking water to pot and bring to boil. Cook, stirring often with tongs and folding pasta over itself, until pasta is tender and water is mostly absorbed but still pools slightly in bottom of pot, about 5 minutes.
- Off heat, stir in parsley, butter, and reserved clams (shelled and unshelled) and toss to combine. Adjust consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, drizzling with extra oil and passing lemon wedges separately.
Time
45 minutesYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
This briny, garlicky pasta is exceptionally simple, yet full of complex flavor from the additions of shellfish broth, white wine, and anchovies. To free the finished product from gritty sand, we steamed the clams open in wine and then strained the resulting broth through a coffee filter. For a creamy, generously sauced pasta (rather than a dry or brothy one), we cooked the spaghetti in just 3 quarts of water (rather than our usual four) to make the cooking water extra-starchy, which helped it emulsify the ample shellfish broth into a rich, full-bodied sauce. Partially cooking the pasta until very al dente before finishing it in the broth packed it full of seafood flavor. Finally, to make the finished dish easier to eat, we shelled most of the clams before adding them to the pasta. Leaving some of the clams in their shells meant the dish was still instantly recognizable and iconic and gave it elegant beauty.
Before You Begin
Discard any raw clams with unpleasant odors, with cracked or broken shells, or with open shells that won't close when tapped. If you don't have a coffee filter for straining the clam broth, you can use a triple layer of cheesecloth. Because the saltiness of fresh clams can vary, we add less salt than usual to the pasta cooking water.
Instructions
- Combine clams and wine in 12-inch skillet. Cover and cook over medium-high heat, shaking pan occasionally to redistribute, until clams open, 4 to 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer clams to large bowl (discard any unopened clams).
- Line fine-mesh strainer with coffee filter and set over bowl or large measuring cup. Strain clam broth through filter. Set aside 1½ cups broth (if you have less than 1½ cups, add enough water to equal 1½ cups). Shell 24 clams and set aside; discard shells.
- Meanwhile, bring 3 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven. Add pasta and 1½ teaspoons salt and cook, stirring often, until strands are flexible but still very firm in center, about 5 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta.
- Cook oil, garlic, anchovies, and pepper flakes in now-empty Dutch oven over medium-high heat, using tongs to break anchovies into small pieces, until garlic is just beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add pasta, reserved clam broth, and ½ cup cooking water to pot and bring to boil. Cook, stirring often with tongs and folding pasta over itself, until pasta is tender and water is mostly absorbed but still pools slightly in bottom of pot, about 5 minutes.
- Off heat, stir in parsley, butter, and reserved clams (shelled and unshelled) and toss to combine. Adjust consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, drizzling with extra oil and passing lemon wedges separately.
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