Legume Free Spaghetti alle Vongole
This is a classic Italian coastal pasta at its most honest — briny littleneck clams, fragrant garlic, a splash of dry white wine, and a shower of fresh parsley all coming together in a silky, seafood-forward sauce. The ingredient list is refreshingly short and completely free of beans, lentils, peas, or any other legume, so there's nothing to scrutinize or swap out. That simplicity is actually the whole point: the clam liquor released during cooking becomes the sauce, enriched by olive oil and a little reserved pasta water until it clings beautifully to every strand. Soaking the clams first pulls out any hidden sand, and pulling the pasta from the water two minutes early means it finishes cooking right in the pan, absorbing all that briny, garlicky goodness. A squeeze of lemon at the table brightens everything and cuts through the richness of the olive oil. This is the kind of dish that looks and tastes like serious effort but comes together in the time it takes to boil a pot of water — weeknight dinner goals, full stop.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
- 2 lb littleneck clams (about 24 clams), scrubbed
- 1 lb spaghetti
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¾ cup dry white wine (such as pinot grigio or vermentino)
- ½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- salt
For serving
- lemon wedges, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Place the scrubbed clams in a large bowl of cold salted water and let them soak for 30 minutes to purge any sand. Drain and rinse well.
- 2
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until 2 minutes shy of al dente — the pasta should still have a firm, chalky center. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the spaghetti.
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