Linguine alle vongole recipe (pasta with clams)

This classic linguine alle vongolea recipe from Naples is simple to make and bursting with flavour. This iconic Southern Italian recipe is perfect for special occasions and for guests! Just a handful of ingredients and very little prep or cooking time.

Prep time: PT20M

Cook time: PT25M

Total time: PT45M

Rating

5 stars (86 reviews)

Keywords

authentic Italian pasta recipe, clams, Italian food, linguine, seafood, seafood pasta, vongole

Ingredients

11 ounces linguine (or vermicelli or spaghetti)
1.8 pounds fresh clams (about 200g/7oz per person)
5-8 garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped)
1 teaspoon peperoncino (red chili pepper) or dried flakes (amount depends on your preference)
4-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 handfuls fresh parsley (finely chopped)
salt (to taste (we don't add it to the pasta cooking water))
2.5 Floz dry white wine ((optional))

Cuisine

Campania
Italian
Southern Italian

Steps

Chop the peeled garlic and parsley finely. If using a whole fresh or dried red chili chop finely too. Remove the seeds to make it milder. Be careful not to touch your eyes or mouth after doing this and wash your hands well before continuing to cook.
Wash the clams in cold water and remove any with broken shells. Some kinds of clams need a lot of rinsing if they have sand in them. But you can also filter the liquid after you have precooked them, so don’t worry so much about the sand.
Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. When it starts to boil add the pasta. You probably don’t need salt as the clams will already be a little salty. 
While the water is boiling for the pasta, put the clams in a deep frying pan and cook covered over a medium to high heat until they have opened. (about 5 minutes)
Allow the clams to cool a little and then remove the meat from half of the clam shells keeping the rest intact. Discard the empty shells and, if necessary, filter the liquid that the clams have produced. Don't discard it.
Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet.
Heat half the olive oil in a frying pan or skillet. Add the garlic and peperoncino. Cook until the garlic starts to soften. Add the clams (with shells and without) with cook for a few minutes. Then add some of the filtered clam water. Next, add the white wine (if using) and cook further until the alcohol evaporates. Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes and then turn off the heat.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add to the pan with the cooked clams. Mix everything together well over a low heat. Add the chopped parsley and a litle olive oil. Mix together again and serve immediately with another sprinkling of chopped parsley, if required.
Purging the clams
- With vongole veraci it's usually not necessary to do more than rinse the clams under running water. So we never purge them.
- However, some people prefer to purge the clams of sand before cooking them. This involves filling a large bowl with cold water and stirring in enough salt to make it salty like the sea. Adding the clams and letting them stand for 30 minutes. The clams will open and release any sand they have inside. You then need to lift the clams from the water and discard the water. If there is sand in the bottom of the bowl, rinse it out and repeat this process until the clams no longer release sand into the water (usually 2 to 3 purging cycles). Discard any clams that are gaping open and refuse to close when prodded.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 447 kcal
Carbohydrates: 61 g
Protein: 15 g
Fat: 16 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Trans Fat: 0.01 g
Cholesterol: 9 mg
Sodium: 31 mg
Sugar: 2 g
Unsaturated Fat: 12 g

Reviews

R K on 2025-02-22 (5 stars):
This recipe was easy to follow, quick to whip up and delicious to eat. I used spaghetti, dried chili flakes, and also added a chopped up tomato when I fried up the garlic & parsley. It didn’t disappoint!
Amy Hyson on 2024-12-30 (5 stars):
Thank you so much! Your recipe is easy to make. I made this dish the other night for the first time! Never cooked clams before. They came out pretty good. My husband loved this dish. So delicious I will definitely make this again!!
Carsten Bleis on 2024-11-04 (5 stars):
Hi Jacqui Linguine all Vongole is for sure also my wife’s and my favorite Italian dish! Living in Beijing – not so far from the sea by Chinese standards. Being this marriage's cook I do our seafood shopping in one of the seafood markets here and many years ago I came across an Italian chef buying clams there for his home meal that day – that was the beginning of a long friendship although my friend now has left Beijing where I have lived the past 26 years with my Chinese wife. In the beginning she frowned at the mere thought of even eating pasta over the softer Chinese noodles – then I introduced Linguine alle Vongole and she was hooked. We have just had pasta 3 days in a row with the clam dish as the Saturday part – she wants to have linguine alle vongole every other Saturday as we have the basic rule that Saturdays are for seafood leaving me time to spend in the market. This dish has also become part of our Christmas food. Have always been buying “Manila clams” as these were the ones me chef friend bought and the ones that hooked my wife on to my cooking. I have occassionally seen the Vongola Verace seen these clams here, so next time around we will try them as sand can sometimes be a problem even when I have tried to purge them for hours and change water several times. Thanks for giving me inspiration on an almost weekly basis.
Leonie Chard on 2024-03-10 (5 stars):
Perfect!!! I did salt the pasta water and it was delicious! Easy and so flavourful.