This dish was inspired by the ravioli we had at Lo Stuzzichino during our latest vacation to Italy: ravioli filled with ricotta perfumed with lemon zest, served with vongole. Although making your own ravioli from scratch requires some practice, this … Continue reading Lemon Ricotta Ravioli with Clams (Ravioli al profumo di limone con vongole)
We love vongole and we love risotto, so risotto alle vongole hits all the right buttons. I opted to prepare it in bianco, without tomato, to allow the vongole to shine. The clams come with their own built-in stock, which … Continue reading Risotto alle Vongole
As we were traveling along the coast of Portugal, arroz de marisco was on the menu of almost every restaurant. It is much more wet than Spanish paella or Italian risotto, more like a seafood soup with rice in it. … Continue reading Arroz de Marisco (Portuguese Seafood Rice)
Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato is a very common dish in Portugal that many if not most restaurants have on their menu, also as tapas (called petiscos in Portuguese). Amêijoas is Portuguese for clams, and the dish has been named after the … Continue reading Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato (Clams in Portuguese Style)
To my surprise I had not yet blogged my recipe for risotto ai frutti di mare. That needed to be rectified as soon as possible, and it is certainly no punishment to have to eat this. There are two important … Continue reading Risotto ai Frutti di Mare (Seafood Risotto)
Each region of Italy has its own pasta shapes. One of the typical shapes of Sardinia (Sardegna) is fregula or fregola, made from durum wheat flour and water, and similar to cous cous. The store-bought variety is a bit like … Continue reading Fregula with Clams (Fregola con Cocciua Niedda)
One of my favorite dishes is spaghetti alle vongole, and I realised I had never done a post on it yet. This pasta with clams has great depth of flavor because of the juices that the clams will release when … Continue reading Spaghetti alle Vongole
Clams were on sale (only 6 euros per kilo or US$ 3.50 per lb), which was a good reason to make clam cakes. They originate in New England and are also called clam fritters. Chopped clams are mixed with a … Continue reading Clam Cakes
The secret to a great linguine ai frutti di mare is to use fresh seafood and to use the juices of the vongole and a stock made from the shrimp heads and shells for the sauce. It is a bit of … Continue reading Linguine ai Frutti di Mare
Fish soup is prepared all along the Mediterranean coast. There are many varieties such as bouillabaisse from France and zarzuela from Spain. Cacciccuo alla Livornese is a fish soup from the Tuscan coast that has three distinguishing features: it is made with … Continue reading Cacciucco (Tuscan Seafood Soup)
The idea for this rice salad with seafood came from Biba Caggiano, my favorite Italian cookery book author. This salad is brimming with tender morsels of tasty seafood, crunchy vegetables, a nice zing from the dressing, gherkins and capers, and a … Continue reading Rice and Seafood Salad (Insalata di Riso e Frutti di Mare)
Vongole veraci are Italian clams and they are just so flavorful. The best thing is, they come with their own sauce (i.e. the juices they release when they are cooked) and so it takes very little effort to turn some … Continue reading Vongole alla Marinara (Clams in Tomato Sauce)
I was intrigued by PutneyFarms’s combination of clams with bacon, so I decided to give this a try even though I had never heard of this in Italy. Of course I did have to Italify things slightly by using pancetta rather than bacon and parsley rather than thyme. The combination of vongole with pancetta worked well: the tastes complement each other. It is nice to serve with crusty homemade bread to soak op the juices, although those turn out quite salty. This dish has a lot of taste for the small amount of work involved. Ingredients For 3-4 servings as an … Continue reading Vongole with Pancetta
Two years ago we visited the city of Mantova in northern Italy and loved the Bigoli alle Vongole we had at Trattoria Cento Rampini. I was used to making pasta alle vongole with dried linguine or spaghetti, but really liked it made with bigoli. Bigoli are thick hollow spaghetti, made by extrusion. I am not sure if Cento Rampini used fresh or dried bigoli and whether theirs included eggs or not. During the same trip to Italy I picked up my own pasta extruder, so I’ve made bigoli alle vongole and other dishes with extruded pasta since. I like to … Continue reading Home-made Bigoli alle Vongole
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