Tag: clams

Clams, our best recipes – Italian Cuisine

We prepared spaghetti with clams, but also pizza, passatelli, paccheri and an unmissable omelette. How hungry!

Clams are one of our favorite ingredients to prepare mouth-watering spaghetti. Few ingredients, always the same gestures and an impeccable result that never tires. But if they are so good with spaghetti, why not try the clams in other creative recipes and tasty?

Clams: how to get rid of sand

Before thinking about cooking our beautiful clams, we must remove any sandy residue. To do this, leave them to soak in cold salted water and store them in the fridge for about two / three hours. Then let's drop them in the sink, rinse them again with running cold water and we eliminate all the clams that have a broken shell.

Spaghetti with clams, the classic recipe

Ingredients for 6 people:

spaghetti alla chitarra g 500, ripe tomatoes g 600, clams g 400, onion g 200, dry white wine g 80, basil, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper

How to make spaghetti with clams

Wash the clams in more water to remove any sandy residue then let them open in a pan with two spoonfuls of hot oil, flavored with a clove of garlic. Shell them and carefully filter the cooking liquid. Finely chop the onion with 2 cloves of garlic and let them dry in 5 spoonfuls of oil. Then add the clams with all their liquid: simmer for 3 'then pepper thoroughly and sprinkle the preparation with the wine. After it has evaporated, add the tomatoes passed to the vegetable mill with the fine disk, 8 basil leaves and a pinch of sugar in the bowl. Stir, season with salt and simmer, half-covered, for about an hour, stirring the sauce occasionally so that it does not stick. Boil the spaghetti, drain them al dente and season with the sauce, a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil, a spoonful of chopped parsley and a generous amount of pepper. Mix the pasta well to flavor it, then serve immediately, hot.

In the gallery above, other delicious recipes with clams!

How much do you know about razor clams? – Italian Cuisine

Everything you need to know about razor clams

THE razor clams, or even cappelunghe, are clams bivalves that live in the sand inside theirs seashell rectangular in shape. They are usually fished in theAdriatic, when they arrive fresh on our tables, or in the Atlantic, but in this case we can buy them frozen. Let's find out everything you need to know about razor clams.

razor clams

How do you clean razor clams?

The razor clams, as we said, are purchased fresh in bunches, such as asparagus for example, or frozen. It is essential to check when buying fresh, perhaps to the market, that they actually are. To do this you will have to touch the foot of the mollusk that comes out of the shell and, if it is a live product, will withdraw, as happens with snails. Otherwise, you can buy them in the freezer counter of the best-stocked supermarkets. Not being as common as for example mussels and clams, razor clams have on average high prices (lower if it is a frozen product).

Living in the sand, it is important before cooking that they purge all the earth they contain. They will go immersed for at least an hour as in the case of clams in salted water, being careful to keep them standing with the siphon upwards. How do you clean razor clams? TO depending on how we want to prepare them, whether or not to eliminate the valves (i.e. the shell). Proceed as follows: carefully open the two valves with the help of a knife, take it easy, they are delicate and break easily. Remove, moving the foot, the small black bag that is located in the middle of the razor clam, this is the one that contains the sand. Act gently. Rinse thoroughly under water to remove sand.

If you have purchased frozen razor clams, they will not need to purge, but to eliminate the bag, yes. For thaw transfer them to the fridge a few hours before cooking.

Raw razor clams: yes or no?

As with all seafood, the raw consumption it is possible only if you perfectly know the origin of the molluscs and therefore you are sure that they are actually fresh. Don't risk it if you're in doubt.

How are razor clams cooked?

The razor clams are prepared in many ways, for example together with other fish or other seafood, as in the recipe of clams and razor clams in stew or in that of gurnard in mussel and razor clam stew. But they are also excellent gratin, stewed or with pasta.

There pasta with razor clams it is a simple but sophisticated first course. After purging the razor clams, put them in a pan with a glass of water and cap them with the lid. Leave the valves open. At this point shell some razor clams and leave others with the shells. Filter the cooking water with a thin mesh cloth so as to eliminate the sand (you can do this for example by placing a clean cloth on the sieve). In another pan, put extra virgin olive oil, a clove of garlic and a chilli pepper. Then add the razor clams. Pour in white wine and let it evaporate. Meanwhile, cook the pasta, preferably spaghetti, in abundant salted water. Add the cooking water to the razor clams, then drain the pasta and transfer it to the pan, season with chopped fresh parsley and possibly a drizzle of oil. Serve it hot.

If you love cherry tomatoes, you can add them to the sauté before cooking the razor clams.

Spaghetti with clams with or without tomato: the differences – Italian Cuisine

Spaghetti with clams in white or spaghetti with clams in red, that's the problem. Let's try to solve it together.

Among the debates that divide Campania (and not) more than anything else, there is one that certainly stands out among all, and could only relate to the timeless spaghetti with clams.

Friendships of a lifetime are put at risk because of a tomato that hides between one spaghetti and another. There are those who cannot admit it and those who cannot do without sully the recipe, but be careful: there are more shades of red. Some color the spaghetti with clams with two cherry tomatoes here and there, while others prepare a real one tomato sauce.

Are spaghetti with clams made with or without tomato?

Of course, it can all be traced back to a question of personal tastes, but we decided to go deeper: we asked to Giovanni Rota, our chef a The Italian Cuisine School, to analyze this dish together with us to understand if, how and when to add the tomato.

Everything starts from plate structure, in which each ingredient does its part: we have a tendency to sweet of the pasta, the Seasonings of clams, thearoma parsley andacidity some wine. In this team, the tomato has the same mission as wine, that is to give complexity to the dish, dampening the flavor with the acidity and adding aroma. At this point, the addition of tomato is not purely "fundamental" for the success of the dish, but remains a matter of taste and tradition.

Tomato in spaghetti with clams: how and when

So, spaghetti with clams in white or red? There is no right or wrong answer, but one rule there is. This is the moment to add the tomato: whether it is a San Marzano or a Pomodorino del Piennolo, better not to add it from the beginning. To prepare a dish of spaghetti with clams in a workmanlike manner, the cooking of the pasta in water should be stopped halfway or 2/3 of the time, and then continue in the pan in the liquid of the clams, obtaining the famous cream. If the tomato were present immediately, it would slow down the risottatura of the pasta, making it more difficult for spaghetti to absorb the liquid of the clams.

The ideal would be to blanch the San Marzano tomato for a few seconds in boiling water, stop cooking on ice, peel it, remove the seeds and add it in pieces in the last two minutes of freezing. In this way, you will slightly tease the palate, or simply give the dish a little more color, finding the tomato from time to time between a forkful and the other. The tomato can also be cooked separately, with a quick stir-fry, and then add to the pan. If, on the other hand, you want a stronger and more tied tomato flavor, you can insert, always at the end of the risotto, a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce.

All that remains is to make sure that the guests are all in agreement … but be careful not to quarrel with those who ask for the Parmesan.