SPAGHETTI & CLAMS

     

Photo from: http://cosacucino.myblog.it

Italy is touched on most sides by the sea.  Unlike more landlocked countries, no one region lays claim to seafood preeminence; all prize fish, squid and shrimp.  It's not the presence of seafood that sets these regions' cuisines apart.  It's how that seafood gets prepped.     

While Venetians steep sardines in vinegar and onions, Sicilians stew them with raisins.  Neapolitans slow-cook octopus in tomatoes but, moving north to Liguria, you find the eight-legged critter boiled with potatoes and a squirt of lemon.

In Naples, spaghetti with clams is a classic dish - clams, olive oil and garlic.  Fresh clams are the key to a tasty sauce.  Once cooked, the clams open and release their juice; this liquid adds an "oceany" complexity to the final sughetto.  Spicy red pepper compliments the mollusks' briny taste.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1.5 - 2lbs of live manilla clams, in their shells

* 8 oz spaghetti, cooked al dente

* 6 tablespoons of olive oil

* 2 garlic cloves (or less; depends how "garlicky" you want it), sliced thin

* Red pepper flakes, to taste 

* 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, rough chopped

Scrub the clams, removing any sand still on the shells. Place the clams in a bowl and cover with water.  Let the clams sit in the water for 20 min.  The clams will expel whatever sand is inside, guaranteeing your meal is not a gritty mess.  

Heat a dutch oven over medium.  Do not add any oil yet.  Put the clams in the hot pan and cover for 3-4 minutes.  During this time, the clams should open up and begin releasing their juice.

Clams with shells open after cooking. Photo from: http://savourbcn.files.wordpress.com

When they've opened, you can either keep the clams in their shells or toss out the shells.  Remove the clams / juice from heat and set aside.  If you choose to pull the meat from the shells, do not pour out the liquid they have emitted. Pour 6 tablespoons of olive oil into a separate skillet and heat over low.  Toast the garlic / red pepper flakes the skillet until aromatic.  

Photo from www.buttalapasta.it

Once the garlic sizzles, add the conserved clams / juice to the pan with the garlicky oil.  Cover and cook the clams for 15 minutes. Cook on very low heat.  As a final step, toss the al dente pasta in the skillet with the clams, sprinkling with the chopped parsley.   

GARLIC BREAD TUSCAN STYLE

There are easy recipes. And, there are easy recipes --  food that  folks who struggle with Kraft Mac can make. And, make well.  Literally meaning an oiled up slice of bread, fettunta is Tuscany's bare-bones take on garlic bread.  (My high school English teachers would be horrified -- two sentences in one paragraph that start with "and").

For most Americans, just mentioning garlic bread conjures images of oven-toasted loaves doused in butter, parsley and mountains of minced garlic.  Some garlic bread leaks yellow. Some ooze gooey cheese. Others make you wonder why the bread looks like orange Kool-Aid.

While not straying far from the grease + bread + garlic equation, fettunta might better be called garlicky bread.  If American garlic bread showcases the zing of garlic and the stringiness of mozzarella, the star of fettunta is the bread.  To be sure, garlic is still here.  It's just not the main attraction -- one note in a choir rather than that voice that makes you forget all others. Since garlic won't overpower the bread, it's key that you get your hands on a quality loaf.

Raw garlic is rubbed right on top of toasted or grilled bread.  The warm surface absorbs just a hint of the garlic's punch.  You taste the bread. You taste the fruity olive oil. You taste the garlic.  No one flavor kills the others.  Served hot, this is easy and light finger food.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 loaf crusty bread
• Olive oil for drizzling (1/2 cup)
• 6 or so peeled garlic cloves
• Salt & pepper

Slice the crusty Italian loaf into thick "bruschetta-sized" slices. Each slice should be about 1 to 1.5 inches wide.  Once sliced, flash toast (on high) the slices. If you have a grill pan or a grill, grilling the bread is the way to go.  This will endow the final dish with a rich, smoky aftertaste.  

When toasty, take a clove of garlic and rub it into the bread's rough surface.  The garlic will rub off.  Garlic up each hot slice this way.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  If the bread is already salted, only use a smidgin of salt. As a final step, pour a big glug of extra-virgin olive oil over each garlicky piece.  The warm bread will absorb the oil. Serve hot.

                                               This photo is from http://theitaliandish.blogspot.com