Me and my Italian skills... When you occasionally read ‘Spaghetti Vongole Veraci’ instead of just “Vongole”, you could consult a dictionary. Not me, of course, I just assumed it meant something like ‘real vongole’, like real clams.
Well, no. I recently looked it up on Google. Vongole veraci is simply the full name of the clam. So they're carpet clams. Learned something new again: I thought vongole were cockles.
Well, the philistine has been taught a lesson and will remember it.
But when it comes to the dish itself, I steer clear of philistinism. I love spaghetti vongole! Unfortunately, to be completely honest, this dish is often disappointing in Italy – if you eat it in a tourist restaurant. I've had it served to me many times in Rome: a few clams, virtually no sauce, dry-looking spaghetti and, of course, no Parmesan. Parmesan on pasta with fish or seafood is sacrilegious! So just add plenty of oil and salt, and it's fine.
That can't be it either.
If you look up original Italian recipes for spaghetti vongole on the internet (thanks to the little Italian I know and Google Translate, I can do that), things look very different. Olive oil! White wine! Garlic! Lemon! Well, well, that sounds very different from the bland stuff I ate.
Fresh vongole veraci, spaghetti, oil and garlic. Delicious!
The kilo of fresh carpet shells I bought was a dream. They hardly needed cleaning.
Please do not rinse fresh vongole to death! Inside the still-living mussels is salt water, which contributes to the flavour of this recipe. Briefly rinse them under cold running water, remove any encrustations, and you're done. It takes no time at all. Don't forget to discard any broken mussels or those that remain open even when tapped gently.
Get all the ingredients ready. Once you start, you have to work quickly. I also recommend placing the dinner plates in the oven at 80°C beforehand so that they are preheated for serving. Spaghetti cools down so quickly, so warm plates are great.
Once the spaghetti vongole veraci is ready, serve immediately so that it does not get cold. Do not forget to provide a shell plate and serve a delicious glass of sparkling white wine with it. Of course, you cannot do without it! And then it's time to get your fingers and fork ready, and Buon Appetito!
By the way, spaghetti vongole veraci is a very typical dish in Italy on the 24th of December. After all, this is actually still a day of fasting. So if you don't want to spend a lot of time cooking on Christmas Eve (or perhaps at lunchtime) and would rather spend time with your loved ones, we highly recommend this dish!
Spaghetti Vongole Veraci
Ingredients
Method
- Die Teller zum Servieren im Backofen bei 80°C vorwärmen.
- Alle Zutaten bereitstellen. Die Knoblauchzehen fein hacken.
- Die Muscheln möglichst kurz unter fließendem kalten Wasser abspülen, groben Schmutz entfernen. Geöffnete oder zerbrochene Muscheln wegwerfen.
- In einem passenden Topf Wasser zum Kochen bringen. Großzügig salzen und die Spaghetti nach Packungsanweisung garen.
- In einer möglichst großen Pfanne oder einem Topf großzügig Olivenöl erhitzen. Knoblauch und Chiliflocken nach Wunsch anbraten. Die Vongole zugeben, den Weißwein aufgießen, Deckel schließen und fünf Minuten garen.
- Währenddessen das Mehl mit dem Zitronensaft anrühren.
- Wenn Nudeln und Muscheln fertig sind, das angerührte Mehl unter die Muscheln heben. Die Spaghetti nicht in ein Sieb abseihen, sondern mit einer Kochzange oder einem Pasta-Kochlöffel die Nudeln direkt aus dem Kochwasser auf die Muscheln heben. Vorsichtig unterheben. Nach Geschmack etwas salzen.
- Mit frischer Petersilie und grob gemahlenem Pfeffer bestreuen und sofort servieren.
