This yummy Venetian clam pasta started out as simple peasant food, but now it's an Italian classic especially if you are in a seaside town.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1kg small clams, scrubbed clean, from sustainable sources
• ½ a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (15g)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 250ml white wine
• 400g dried spaghetti
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1–2 dried red chillies

Preparation

1. Get a pot of water boiling. While that's happening, check your clams. If any of them aren’t tightly closed, give them a sharp tap. If they don't close, toss them out.
2. Heat up a large pan with a lid on high. Slice the parsley stalks nice and thin, set them aside, and roughly chop the leaves. Peel and chop the garlic, quarter the tomatoes, and have your wine ready to go.
3. Toss the pasta into the boiling water with a good pinch of salt and cook it according to the package directions until it's al dente. About 5 minutes before the pasta’s done, get ready to roll – this next part moves fast!
4. Pour 4 generous lugs of extra virgin olive oil into the hot pan, then add the garlic, parsley stalks, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Crumble in the dried chili and toss in the chopped tomatoes.
5. Keep everything moving, and just as the garlic starts to turn golden, throw in the clams and pour in the wine. It'll splutter and steam, so give everything a good shake and pop the lid on. In about 3 or 4 minutes, the clams will start opening up – keep shuffling the pan around until all of them are open. Take the pan off the heat and discard any clams that didn’t open.