Linguine vongole
This quick Italian pasta dish uses just a handful of ingredients to make a simple but sophisticated supper for two.
Ingredients
For the fresh pasta
- 350g/12oz '00' flour
- 25g/1oz fine semolina, plus a little extra for dusting
- 2 whole free-range eggs, plus 4 free-range egg yolks
For the linguini vongole
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red chilli, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 500g/1lb 2oz live clams, scrubbed and debearded
- 80ml/2¾fl oz Italian white wine
- large handful flatleaf parsley, chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the pasta, place all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until it forms a dough. You may need to add a dribble of water to help it combine. Roll into a ball and wrap in clingfilm. Allow to rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
Once rested, flatten the dough slightly and feed the dough through a pasta machine, working your way through the settings from thick to thin, until the pasta is paper thin. Feed the sheet of dough through the linguine attachment. Set aside in a little semolina.
To make the vongole, add the olive oil to a large saucepan with a fitted lid over a medium heat, then add the chilli and garlic and cook for 1 minute or until the garlic has lightly caramelised. Throw in the clams, then add the wine and cover the pan with its lid. Cook for around 2–3 minutes, or until all of the clams have opened. Discard any clams that remain closed.
Meanwhile, boil the fresh linguine in a large pan of boiling salted water for 1–2 minutes. Once cooked, drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water.
Add the drained pasta into the pan along with a ladle of the cooking water. Throw in the parsley and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Recipe Tips
Instead of making your own pasta you can use 120g/4¼oz dried linquine.