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| Spaghetti Cooked Risotto Style with Vongole and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes |
Serves 4-6
This is a combination of recipes from my brother Gianmarco
and my cousin Giorgio. Forget about boiling, draining, then dressing your pasta
with the sauce-when you do it risotto-style, the spaghetti cooks in a luscious
vinegar, vongole and garlic broth, slowly absorbing all of those flavors, while
the starch released by the gentle stirring motion creates a velvety sauce
Spaghetti Cooked Risotto Style with Vongole and Roasted
Cherry Tomatoes ingredients: 1kg vongole (clams), soaked in cold water for 1
hour. 1/3 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil. 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves
roughly chopped, plus 4 finely chopped stalks. 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1-2 long red chilies, thinly sliced. 200ml vinegar. 400g spaghetti
Roasted cherry tomatoes ingredients: 3x250g punnets cherry
or heirloom tomatoes. 2-3garlic cloves (skin on), bruised. 1/2 cup mixed fresh
herbs (such as basil and oregano). 1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil. 2 tbs
white or regular balsamic vinegar
Spaghetti Cooked Risotto Style with Vongole recipe: Preheat
oven to 180C and line a baking try with baking paper. For the roasted cherry
tomatoes, place all the ingredients on the baking tray and toss to combine.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then roast for 45 minutes
or until tomatoes are soft and slightly blistered. Set aside to cool. Drain the
vongole, then rinse well and drain again. Set aside. Heat olive oil in a large,
deep frypan (with a lid) over medium-high heat. Cook parsley stalks, garlic and
chili, stirring, for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Pour in the vinegar and cook
for a further 30 seconds. Add the vongole, over with a lid and steam for 2-3
minutes until just opened. As the shells open, remove with tongs and set aside
in a bowl-be careful not to overcook them or they'll rubbery. Meanwhile, bring
a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, then cook spaghetti for 1 minute
or until just softened. Remove spaghetti from the saucepan (reserving the
cooking water), then add spaghetti to the frypan with enough cooking water to
cover-about 2 cups (500ml). Cook spaghetti, stirring occasionally, for 7-8 minutes
until al denta, adding more cooking water if needed-stirring the pasta will
release the starch and will help thicken the sauce season to taste, keeping in
mind that vongole are quite salty, so you won't need to add a lot of salt.
Remove the spaghetti from the heat, then add the roasted tomatoes and cooked
vongole, along with any cooking or resting juice, and gently toss to combine.
Scatter with chopped parsley and serve immediately
