Spaghetti alle Vongole

This classic Neapolitan Christmas dish can be served without tomatoes or with them. Fish sauce may seem like an odd ingredient for an Italian pasta dish. But a fish sauce called “colatura” is a long tradition on the Amalfi coast just south of Naples and gives the dish a warm hit of umami.

Makes 4 servings 2 pounds Manila clams (in shells)

Kosher salt 1 pound fresh spaghetti

1⁄ 4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

8 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half and salted

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons Thai-style fish sauce

1⁄ cup dry white wine

2

(such as Pinot Grigio)

1⁄ cup fresh Italian parsley,

4 roughly chopped

Soak the clams for at least 1 hour in fresh water and salt to clean them.

Meanwhile, bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5-quart pot. Season the water with salt, just to the point that it tastes like seawater. Add the spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute (until the pasta is about 1 minute from being done). Drain, reserving 1⁄ cup pasta cooking water.

2

Set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and cook, swirling the pan, until just golden. Add the tomatoes, red pepper f lakes and fish sauce and continue cooking until the tomatoes are soft, about 30 to 45 seconds. Add the wine and clams and increase the heat to high. Cover the pan and cook until clams open and release their juices, 3 to 6 minutes, depending on the size of clams. As clams open, use tongs to transfer to a bowl.

Add 1⁄ cup of reserved pasta water to the pan and bring

4 to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook, tossing constantly, until the pasta is done and has soaked up some of the sauce from the pan. Return the clams and any juices from the bowl, along with parsley, to the pan and toss to combine. If the sauce seems dry, add a bit more of the reserved pasta water. Transfer pasta to warm bowls and drizzle with remaining tablespoon olive oil.