Spaghetti with White Clam Sauce
Instructions:
- 2 2/ 3 pounds baby clams (vongole) (1.2 kg)
- Coarse salt
- Cornmeal
- 3/ 4 cup extra virgin olive oil (180 ml)
- 1 pound spaghetti (450 g)
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1/ 4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- 31/ 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Scrub the clams and then rinse 2 or 3 times in cold water. Fill the sink with cold water and add 2 small fistfuls of coarse salt. Put the clams in a colander and immerse them in the water. Sprinkle a handful of cornmeal over the clams, cover the colander with a lid, and leave for at least 5 hours, or better, overnight, in the refrigerator. When ready to use the clams, rinse them 3 times in cold water and drain.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over high heat. Add the clams. Cover the skillet with a lid and cook, shaking the pan continuously, until the clams open, 3 or 5 minutes.
- Let the clams cool a little. Set aside a few of the clams in their shells to serve on top of the pasta. Strain the clam juice in the skillet through a single thickness of paper towel and reserve 2/ 3 cup of the juices. Shell the remaining clams and add them to the reserved juice.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti until it is very al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the rest of the oil in a clean large skillet over moderately low heat. Add the garlic and cook slowly until light brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Quickly add the hot pepper, the clams with their juice, and 2 tablespoons of the parsley. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes to heat through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the clam sauce in the skillet. Toss rapidly and thoroughly over moderate heat. Transfer to a warm serving dish, arrange the reserved clams in their shells over the pasta, and sprinkle the remaining chopped parsley on top. Serve at once.