Spaghetti and Clams
This Spaghetti and Clams recipe takes perfectly cooked pasta and tosses it with tender cockles in a light wine sauce, topped with golden, lemony breadcrumbs that add just the right amount of crunch. This dish is both easy to make and elegant enough to serve for any occasion!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 garlic cloves diced
- 1 shallot diced
- 1 lb cockles soaked, cleaned and drained
- ⅓ cup panko bread crumbs
- 3 oz spaghetti or pasta of choice
- small bunch of parsley stems divided and leaves finely chopped
- 1 lemon charred, plus lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¾ cup Pinot Grigio I used The Simple Grape
- ½ cup pasta water
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium-low heat, add butter and panko bread crumbs. Toss to combine and season with salt. Continue stirring until toasted. Add ½ tablespoon lemon zest and a sprinkle of minced parsley. Toss to combine and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. add pasta and cook until slightly al dente. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water and drain the rest.
- In another large pan, add olive oil, diced garlic and diced shallot. Saute until slightly softened and fragrant. Add parsley stems, red pepper flakes, pinot grigio, salt, and clams. Cover for 3-5 minutes until the clams start opening. Set aside the clams that have opened and toss any clams that haven't opened after a while. Remove the parsley stems.
- In the same pan, add the pasta, pasta water, parsley, and charred lemon juice. Gently toss to combine and season with salt as needed. Add in the clams and toss. Garnish with more parsley and lemon juice, as desired.