Recipe: Spaghetti with Clams

One of my favorite Italian meals is Spaghetti alle Vongole, or Spaghetti with Clams. It seems like each time I've traveled to Italy, I've spent at least one meal a day eating this amazing dish. My husband teased my sister and me throughout our last trip, because if I wasn't eating spaghetti with clams, my sister was!

Well, it's been so long I can hardly stand it a while since we've been to Italy and one day recently, I started craving my favorite dish. So, I did what any good foodie does, and I googled it. I found a great recipe, here.

Giada's recipe is perfect. I did make a few changes (added red pepper flakes and cut back on the parsley), but overall, I stuck right to it. If you like clams, give it a shot!

*Tip: Clams, like most bi-valves, tend to have a sand-factor. Though I can handle most anything, I cannot handle getting sand in my mouth when I bite into something. To remedy this, before you start cooking, soak your clams in ice cold water with about 1/2 cup of corn meal for about 45 minutes. Then, drain and rinse your clams and you are ready to go!

Chopping the garlic...this is not for those wary of garlic breath!

For some reason, the bugs felt the need to document this
(please excuse the bad hair and lack of makeup)!

Onions and Shallots

Beautiful bowl of clams!

The whole process takes about 15 minutes total...
so this would make an easy weeknight meal!

The finished product!

This was the first new recipe of the new year that we tried and it might be my new favorite. We've even decided to "add it to the rotation". Have you tried anything new recently? If so, what was it? Will you be adding it to your rotation?