TABELIA

AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Linguine con Vongole e ColaturaLinguine with Clams and Colatura

Linguine with Clams and Colatura
Difficulty★★★☆☆ Prep4 min Cook33 min Rest2 hr servings4

An authentic pasta from the Campanian coast, adding colatura from Cetara to finish vongole in bianco. The dual savory depth of clam juices and colatura gives the white wine sauce a complex character. Drizzling in the colatura at the end without heating preserves its aroma to the fullest.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

Authenticity Score

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Ingredients (4 servings)

  • LinguineFlat pasta 3–4 mm wide, which catches sauce more readily than spaghetti400 g
  • Venus clamsPurge for 2 hours in 3% salt water, using 30 g salt per 1 L water, then scrub immediately before cooking800 g
  • Colatura di alici from CetaraNeeds no heating. Add after turning off the heat. It is salty, so reduce the salt used in the pasta water15 ml
  • GarlicLightly crush4 cloves
  • Dry white wineA dry variety such as Frascati or Falanghina is ideal150 ml
  • Extra virgin olive oil80 ml
  • Flat-leaf parsleyFinely chop1 bunch
  • Dried chiliSlice into rings; omit for less heat1 piece

Method

12 hr

Purge the clams in salt water

  • 1 Spread 800 g clams in a tray without overlapping and pour in 3% salt water, made with 30 g salt per 1 L water, until it just covers them.
  • 2 Cover with aluminum foil or similar and leave in a dark place for 2 hours to purge.
24 min

Prepare the clams and aromatics

  • 1 Drain the purged clams in a colander, rub the shells together under running water and drain well.
  • 2 Discard broken clams and any that remain open and do not close.
  • 3 Lightly crush 4 garlic cloves with the flat of a knife.
  • 4 Finely chop the flat-leaf parsley.
  • 5 Slice the chili into rings.
310 min

Boil the pasta water

  • 1 Bring a large pot of plentiful water to a boil and add a small amount of salt, half the usual quantity.
  • 2 Use less salt for boiling the pasta because colatura is salty.
48 min

Steam the clams with white wine

  • 1 Put half the olive oil, the lightly crushed garlic and the chili in a large frying pan over medium heat. Once fragrant, add the clams and pour in the white wine.
  • 2 Cover and steam over high heat for 3–4 minutes.
  • 3 Remove the clams once they have all opened.
  • 4 Reserve the steaming juices separately.
  • 5 Keep a few clams in their shells for garnish and remove the rest from their shells.
59 min

Boil the linguine until firm

  • 1 Boil the linguine for 1 minute less than the package time.
  • 2 Reserve 80 ml pasta water.
63 min

Reduce and emulsify the clam juices

  • 1 Return the reserved clam juices to the same frying pan and reduce gently over medium heat for 1–2 minutes.
  • 2 Add the pasta water and emulsify.
73 min

Return the clams and plate

  • 1 Add the pasta and toss with the sauce, then return the shelled clams.
  • 2 Plate and garnish with the clams in their shells.

Caution

Turn off the heat, drizzle colatura throughout the frying pan, add the remaining olive oil and parsley, and toss quickly.

A view of Cetara
CetaraItaly Photo: Derbrauni · CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

Below the steep cliffs descending from the mountains of the Amalfi Coast to the sea lies the fishing village of Cetara. This small town of fewer than 3000 people holds an exceptional place in Italian culinary history because it produces colatura, a fish sauce with a tradition stretching back to ancient Rome.

Anchovies are salted and slowly aged in wooden barrels for several months to several years. Colatura is obtained by making a hole in the bottom of the barrel and collecting the liquid that drips out. The name “colatura” itself means “that which is filtered out” in Latin.

A few drops of colatura added to clam pasta bring a depth that clam cooking juices alone cannot produce. A tradition of aging that continues from ancient Roman tables lives on in the modern pasta bowl.

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