We love pasta of all shapes and sizes here at Food Over 50, complimented with sauces of every description, but this clean, fresh, briny cockle/clam Vongole is one of our all time favorites. There's no heavy butter, cream or cheese sauce with loads of saturated fat. Nor is there any oh-so-predictable tomato sauce! It's just olive oil, garlic, chiles and white wine to compliment the cockles, pasta, parsley and lemon. Light, luscious and good for us. Yum!
| Prep Time | 30 Minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 Minutes |
| Servings |
6 People
|
- 1 lb whole wheat Fusilli, Rotini or Penne pasta
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 red Fresno chiles
- .5 cup cockle or clam broth
- .5 cup dry white wine
- 1 pinch salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 12 oz pre-cooked cockle or clam meat
- .5 cup flat leaf parsley
- 1 lemon
Ingredients
|
|
- Pre-cook approximately 4 pounds of live, whole cockles, or clams, in a lidded pot over medium high heat with 1 cup of water. Steam for about 10 minutes until cockles open. Any that do not open are to be discarded.
- Once cooled, pick the meat from the shells and reserve. This should yield between 12oz. and 16oz. of meat. Also reserve the broth, but leave the last bit in the pan as you pour it out. That last cup or so contains any sand or grit from the cockles.
- As an alternative, you may use canned clam meat and broth for this recipe, but check the label for sodium content and adjust according to your dietary needs.
- Start the whole wheat pasta cooking in a large pot of boiling water. Cook to "al dente" because the pasta will finish in the sauce.
- For the sauce, begin by peeling and mincing the garlic. Then finely dice the chiles. Sauté these aromatics with the olive oil in a spacious, high-sided sauté pan over medium-low heat until the garlic is lightly colored but not burned.
- Add the cockle stock and white wine. Turn up the heat and simmer for 10 minutes to reduce and concentrate the sauce. Even when reduced it will remain light and liquid.
- Turn down the heat to medium-low once again. Add the salt and black pepper. Then add the cockle or clam meat and stir or jostle pan to combine flavors.
- When pasta is "al dente" drain thoroughly and add to the sauce. Reduce heat to super low.
- Add the chopped parsley and lemon zest. If you wish you may add a good squeeze of lemon juice as well, but I find the lemon zest adds enough bright flavor. Combine all and serve.
I make this Vongole with freshly harvest cockles when I'm in Scotland, but it's just as good with small Manila clams from your local fishmonger. Also note that the pasta is cooked in unsalted water and only a pinch of salt is used in the sauce. The cockles themselves impart of briny flavor and the chiles and lemon zest are a ubiquitous taste enhancer to low sodium foods.