Spaghetti alle Vongole Lucia’s Recipe
A dinner with Pino and Lucia was always a manifestation of their friendship, hospitality, and Lucia’s ability in the kitchen.

We sat on the beach watching Pino, a hundred meters out, dive for the vongole that would be our dinner. We admired his stamina as he came to the surface for air, his flippers, black silhouettes against the clear blue water.  After an hour or so, he came back to shore with his net bag full. That evening we gathered around the table with our friends, and as usual, discussed things both serious and banal, while we ate those small delicacies in Lucia’s “spaghetti alle vongole.”

Lucia’s classic spaghetti vongole, a deceptively simple dish, is the most telling example of Italian cuisine, where a few fresh ingredients are combined to complement and highlight each other.

Ingredients for 8 people:

2-3 kg of vongole (small clams)

2 dl of fresh, extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 dl chopped parsley

2 chopped small green peppers

16 ripe Pachino (cherry tomatoes,) or 4 or five San Marzano tomatoes

Thin spaghetti about 100- 150 gr per person

A little salt

Procedure:

Pour half of the oil and all the chopped vegetables into a large sauté pan. Season with a little salt. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes, then add the clams (previously rinsed thoroughly) and cover the pan.

The clams will slowly open, releasing their cooking liquid. Once they're all open, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the dish and, if desired, sprinkle it with a little chili pepper. (just a little!)

Pour the spaghetti, cooked al dente into the pan, sauté for a few minutes to finish cooking it and serve it directly.

Note: Use only long, thin pasta (spaghetti). The vongole sauce is very delicate. Too thick or heavy pasta will smother it. Add a spoonful or two of pasta water if the sauce is too thick. Before cooking, place the vongole in well salted water to rinse them of any sand. The local fish stores de-sand them prior to sale.