Spaghetti alla Vongole

A couple of months ago, Jean-Félix and I were in Italy. It was amazing! Italy is, for food and drinks, the most exceptional place I’ve ever visited. For people like us, it’s like being in paradise. You can’t ask for more. Everything there is made to make you enjoy your time off and fill up your belly. Which we did, of course! This destination was very influential for us. In my life, almost all my memories are connected to smell or taste and Italy is all about that. So I let you imagine how great it was for me, for us! How many new memories we brought back.

Among them, this is one of my favourites. When we were in Rome, I heard that my beloved cousin, Sabrina, was in a small town near Firenze. She lives in Sweden while I live in Quebec, so being in the same country without any planning was quite crazy. But she thought that even if we were in the same country, we were too far to meet each other. You know, so close but so far. But sometimes, life is just perfect. Universe can work some magic that’s for sure! So she took a train, we took a train, and we ended up meeting in Firenze. We spent the whole day together, just the 3 of us, walking around, visiting and catching up together. We had a blast and it was a magical day. Guess what I had for dinner … here you are! Spaghetti Alla Vongole!

For ♡♡

INGREDIENTS:

• 500 gr Fresh small hard-shell clams soaked, scrubbed and rinsed (Those steps are the most important in this recipe. If you don’t take the time to make it well, your clams will be full of sand and you will ruin your recipe.) Plenty websites explain it well so please follow the explanations. It will make the difference between an awful dish or an amazing one.)
• 150 gr Spaghetti
• 1 ½ tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley chopped
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• Fine sea salt and black ground pepper

PREPARATION:

1. In a large pot, bring water to boil with a little amount of olive oil and cook the Spaghetti until they are perfectly cooked. When it’s done, drain the pasta and return them into the pot. Oh and do you remember??? What is worst then overcooked pasta? NOTHING!!! HAHAHA They must be al dente. Save 1/4 cup of the cooking water and reserve for later.
2. Meanwhile in a medium-large skillet, warm the olive oil at medium-low eat and add the red pepper flakes and the clams. Stir and add the garlic, the wine and the butter. When the clams are opening, add the fresh Italian parsley and let cook about 5 minutes. Seasoning with the fine sea salt and the black ground pepper. Be careful because the clams are already salted. So go little by little. Cover and reserve.
3. Pour the pasta into the skillet with the clams and stir to combine. Adjust the seasoning et voilà! If you want you can put a bit of the cooking water, you reserved previously. For me it was absolutely perfect without, so I didn’t put any. At this point, it’s your choice.

Enjoy this simple and amazing meal with a person you love. Put some Italian music and speak with your hand. HAHAHA This is the way to enjoy it. You will be able to imagine how lovely it is to be sitting on a terrace in Italy hearing all the Italian life noises. The Italian city noise it’s a real music to me. This recipe of spaghetti Alla Vongole brings me back there every time I make it.

Enjoy!!

Love you!!

Sefra

I always like to show you my dream kitchen accessories! The ones I use, the ones I love and the ones I want so bad. Ha-Ha! I can spend hours trying to find the best on the market for you … and let say FOR ME TOO! Have a good time shopping!