Risotto-style Spaghetti and Clams Sicilian Style.
This has been my favorite first course since I was a child.
I grew up in a small village between the Strait of Messina and the Lakes of Ganzirri, where mussels and clams have always been cultivated. It is fair to say that we were raised on milk and seafood.
For us, clams do not need to be purged because we find them already purified, and the most important thing is that they are not as salty as others, because our lakes are brackish as they are fed by a vein of freshwater that mixes with the sea water of the Strait entering through the connecting channels.
Today I present the recipe prepared in the traditional way, and subsequently the one with the Bimby
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Sicily
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring, Summer
- Energy 309.89 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 28.53 (g) of which sugars 0.47 (g)
- Proteins 14.46 (g)
- Fat 15.95 (g) of which saturated 2.55 (g)of which unsaturated 1.12 (g)
- Fibers 1.74 (g)
- Sodium 767.03 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 350 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Let’s go shopping
- 18 oz fresh clams
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch chopped parsley
- 3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- to taste black pepper
- 5 oz spaghetti (No. 7)
Risotto-style Spaghetti and Clams Sicilian Style
Tools
Here’s what we need to make the
- Frying Pan
- Bowl
- Slotted Spoon
Preparation: Risotto-style Spaghetti and Clams Sicilian Style
Traditional Cooking
Quickly wash the clams, drain the water, and check if they are all tightly closed.
Finely chop the parsley and set it aside.
Choose a rather large pan, as we will also cook the spaghetti inside.
Chop the garlic cloves and put them in the pan with the oil. Sauté for a minute then..
Add the clams, stir, and cover with a lid.
Cook over high heat for 5 minutes.
After this time, check if they are open, otherwise let them cook a little longer, but not too much.
At this point, use the slotted spoon to collect all the clams and put them in a bowl.
Shell about half of them, while leaving the rest with the shell for aesthetics.
Add a glass of water and bring to a boil.
Then cook the spaghetti directly in the pan, and if necessary, add more water, but do not add salt.
When the pasta is nearly done, add the clams and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Adjust the seasoning with pepper and add the chopped parsley.
Here are the Risotto-style Spaghetti and Clams Sicilian Style ready
Here is a close-up view
Quickly wash the clams, drain the water, and check if they are all tightly closed.
Put them in the Varoma tray and set aside.
Place the washed and thoroughly dried parsley in the bowl, chop for 10 sec. at speed 5.
Use the spatula to collect and set aside in a small bowl.
Without washing the bowl, place the 2 garlic cloves inside and chop for 10 sec. at speed 5.
Use the spatula to collect and pour in 30 gr of extra virgin olive oil.
Flavor for 2 min at 248°F speed 1.
Add 400 gr of water to the bowl,
close the lid and place the Varoma with the clams on top.
Cook for 20 min. at Varoma speed 1.
Meanwhile, as the clams open, their liquid drips into the bowl’s water, flavoring everything.
When the time is up, carefully open the Varoma lid, and shell half of the clams, keeping them aside separately.
The water remaining in the bowl needs to be transferred to a large bowl because we need to weigh it again, as we don’t know how much the clams contained.
So without washing the bowl, weigh 350 gr of cooking water and bring to a boil for 7 min. at 212°F speed spoon.
Then, through the bowl’s opening, introduce 150 gr of spaghetti to cook them for the time indicated on the package minus 1 minute.
When there is one minute left, introduce the shelled clams through the opening, and let it go for 1 minute speed spoon.
At this point, place the pasta in a bowl or pan, add the clams with shells, the chopped parsley, and a grind of pepper.
We have prepared Risotto-style Spaghetti and Clams Sicilian Style with our friend Bimby
Seen up close
tips
Risotto-style Spaghetti and Clams Sicilian Style.
You can also make spaghetti with mussels using the same recipe.
Risotto-style Spaghetti and Clams Sicilian Style
Can frozen or canned clams be used?
Yes, but the flavor won’t be the same; if you do use them, I recommend increasing the amount of garlic and parsley to add more flavor.
