Vongole e spaghetti - Summer at the end

Un pensiero estivo.

Un pensiero caldo e saportito.
Quello del sale sulla pelle. Quello del mare.
Della musica ascoltata in macchina mentre si va in vacanza.
Caldo come un plaid sulla pelle di notte mentre conti le stelle cadendi. 
Del forno che disperde l'odore di torta di mele di primo mattino, prima del sole.
Quello della musica ascoltata in macchina mentre rientri dalle vacanze.

Il mio primo preferito in estate, le vongole. Un sugo veloce e leggero. Meglio se leggermente piccante e con qualche pomodorino ma anche in bianco. Mi piace moltissimo. E' un piatto tutto italiano. Vi lascio la ricetta qui sotto. Intanto qualche consiglio su come pulirle velocemente:

  La vongola si dovrebbe comprare viva, quelle surgelate o in barattoli non conservano ne il sapore ne i nutrienti originari. Per togliere la sabbia vi consiglio di mettere a mollo le vongole in acqua salata per un tempo minimo di 1 ora: così le vongole si spurgheranno e poi sarà sufficiente risciacquarle.
Per aprirle ed eventualmente togliere la sabbia rimasta internamente si scaldano in una padella per qualche minuto, finchè non si schiudono. Per non perdere il sapore bisogna toglierle subito appena si schiudono e filtrare l'acqua che rilasciano per poi aggiungerla alla cottura del sugo per accentuarne l'aroma.

Ricetta per un sugo rosso alle vongole

Clicca sulla foto per scaricare la ricetta

English

This recipe it’s so delicious that it’s now become a classic Italian dish. As even Jamie Oliver writes people can be picky about whether or not it should be made with or without tomatoes, but personally I like the subtle colour (me too!!) and sweetness they add to the dish. The most important thing about it is timing everything so you get perfectly steamed clams and al dente spaghetti.
It's my favourite spaghetti dish in summer time... which is a good time for clams.

Once you’ve made it a couple of times you will love it. Definitely.
I have a couple of suggestion to make this dish even more tasty than you had it last time !! ;-)
Check the the direction to see my suggestions.
Spaghetti with clams  Ingredients serves 3 people 300g small clams, scrubbed clean
A small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley  1 clove of garlic
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
250ml white wine 250ml of water coming from opened clams, filtered 210/230g dried spaghetti n. 4
sea salt
3 Tablespoon of Extra virgin olive oil
Direction
How to prepare clams for your souce
Put a pan of water on to boil for spaghetti. While that’s happening, sort through your cleaned clams. Leave the clams in cold salted water for a minimun of 1 hour.  Then in another pan on a medium heat poor in the clams and keep shuffling the pan around until all of them have opened. After about 2 minutes the clams will start to open and thet will release some water.  Once all of them are opened, take the pan off the heat and filter the remaining water. This water will give your sauce more taste. Get rid of any clams that haven't opened and set aside the clams water and the opened clams. Prepare your souce for Spaghetti Put 3 generous tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into the hot pan and add the garlic, parsley and a good pinch of salt. Crumble in the dried chilli and add the chopped tomatoes, cook about 5 minutes. Stir everything around and just as the garlic starts to colour, tip in the clams and pour in the wine and half clams water. Cook 6/7 minutes and give everything a good shake. Spaghetti In the boiling water put salt, spaghetti and the remaining clams water,  cook for about 7/8 minutes, drain and add to the pan of clams along with more parsley leaves and an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Stir or toss for a further minute or two. No more please, spaghetti has to be "al dente" a little less cooked than overcooked.
This is the italian way !
Bon appetit