Spaghetti with Clam Sauce Viareggina Style, or Spaghetti con le Vongole alla Viareggina: There are innumerable variations on the theme of spaghetti with clams. This calls for live clams (you'll want small-to-medium sized) and is from Viareggio, one of the towns on the Tuscan coastal plain north of Pisa.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds (1.5 k) fresh live clams
- A medium onion
- Unsalted butter
- Dry white wine
- Minced parsley
- Pepper and hot pepper
- Pasta -- 1/4 pound, or 100 g per person
Preparation:
Assuming you're serving six, scrub 3 pounds (1.5 k) fresh live clams well and soak them in sea water overnight to purge them of sand. Come cooking time, transfer them from the bucket to a skillet with a slotted spoon, and heat them, covered, until they've opened. Look over them once they have, discarding any that haven't opened because they were already dead, and eating them could make you quite sick. Shuck the opened clams into a bowl, discarding the shells, and when you're done filter the pot liquor through a muslin cloth into the bowl too.
Mince a medium-sized onion and sauté it in a little olive oil until it becomes translucent gold (don't let it brown). Coarsely chop the clams and add them to the pot, cook for a couple of minutes, then add 2/3 cup dry white wine, and when it has evaporated, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, a fistful of minced parsley, freshly ground pepper and a small hot pepper, shredded. Stir well, then add one large blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped tomato, and the pot liquor, which will be salty enough that no further salt will be necessary. Cook for a few minutes more, and it's ready to season the pasta. Figure 1/4 pound (100 g) spaghetti per person.
Mince a medium-sized onion and sauté it in a little olive oil until it becomes translucent gold (don't let it brown). Coarsely chop the clams and add them to the pot, cook for a couple of minutes, then add 2/3 cup dry white wine, and when it has evaporated, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, a fistful of minced parsley, freshly ground pepper and a small hot pepper, shredded. Stir well, then add one large blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped tomato, and the pot liquor, which will be salty enough that no further salt will be necessary. Cook for a few minutes more, and it's ready to season the pasta. Figure 1/4 pound (100 g) spaghetti per person.
