• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Peter's Food Adventures
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Travel
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • recipes
  • about
  • travel
  • Follow and Share!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • recipes
    • about
    • travel
  • Follow and Share!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Italian Recipes

    Linguine Vongole

    Author: Peter · Published: Oct 23, 2022

    Jump to Recipe

    Linguine Vongole or Spaghetti Vongole is a classic Italian seafood recipe. This recipe will take you back to the Italian seaside. Made with fresh clams, pasta and garlicky white wine sauce. Linguine with Clams can be made for a special meal or a weeknight dinner.

    linguine with fresh clams in a bowl
    vongole ingredients on table
    chopped vegetables on board

    What is Vongole?

    Vongole in Italian, translates to clams. It's the main ingredient for Pasta alle Vongole, which means Pasta with Clams. So literal, but sounds a bit fancy in English. Vongole is often referred to this recipe with pasta, clams, olive oil and other ingredients.

    Ingredients

    • Fresh Clams - usually from your supermarket
    • Linguine - fresh pasta always cooks quickly and is delicious
    • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    • Garlic - 5 cloves
    • Chili Pepper - adds spice
    • Cherry Tomatoes - adds flavor
    • Dry White Wine - recommend an Italian Pinot Grigio
    • Fresh Parsley - adds color and flavor
    frying tomatoes and garlic
    adding clams into pan

    Types of Clams for Pasta

    The best clams for this Linguine Vongole are small sized clams. Depending where you live in the world will determine what clams are available. Don't worry about using the right clam, any small clam will be fantastic in this recipe.

    • Vongola Verace - a self cleaning Italian clam, cross-cut carpet shell clam
    • Littleneck or Cherrystone Clams - meaty and a bit chewy, popular in chowders
    • Pipis - an Australian/New Zealand clam with strong rich flavor
    • Manila Clams - meaty with a slightly sweet taste compared to other clams
    • Sale Clams - what Clams are on sale in our supermarket 🤣
    bag of fresh pippis
    clams in colander

    Cleaning Clams or Purging Clams

    Most clams sold in supermarkets in Australia are de-sanded and ready to use. However, that's not always the case, especially if you dig for your own clams. Because Clams live in sand, it's only natural that they ingest sand. So you need to purge clams from sand with the methods below and brush them clean.

    Vinegar Method

    • Submerge clams in a 1 part vinegar and 2 part water solution for about 30-60 minutes until they spit out all the sand. You'll see it on the bottom of the bowl.
    • Drain and place them in fresh water for another 30 minutes until they filter out any vinegar.
    • Throw away any clams that don't close, as they are dead.

    Salty Water Method

    • Fill large bowl with water and add enough salt to make it salty. That's about 2 tablespoons of salt per litre (or quart).
    • Place the clams in salty water for 60 minutes until they spit out sand. Remove the clams and drain and rinse the bowl.
    • Repeat with new salty water until now more sand is found on the bottom of the bowl. It can take several attempts for the sand to be purged.
    • Throw away any open clams that don't close, as they are dead.
    pouring white wine over clams
    steaming clams with lid

    White or Red Clam Sauce

    There are two different ways to make Linguine with Clams, rosso (red) meaning with tomatoes and bianco (white) meaning without tomatoes. It's up to you if you want to add Cherry Tomatoes, which adds flavor and color. To keep your pasta bianco, just skip to the tomatoes.

    Chili Peppers for Linguine with Clams

    Traditionally, this recipe is made with Italian Peperoncino Chili Peppers. It's a generic red chili pepper that's fairly mild. However, you might not find Peperoncino Peppers, so here are so substitutions with a similar heat.

    • Cayenne Pepper
    • Aleppo Pepper
    • Tabasco Pepper
    • Birds Eye Chili - if you want it spicy
    • Dried Pepper or Pepper Flakes
    clam broth in pan
    mixing pasta with clams

    How to Make Linguine Vongole

    1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. While it's heating, start prepping your vegetables. Goal is to cook your pasta, so it's ready at the same time as the cooked clams. Cook your pasta al dente as per instructions.
    2. Wash and drain the clams, purge sand if necessary. Many clams are sold de-sanded. Remove clams with broken shells.
    3. Sauté garlic, parsley stems, chili peppers and tomatoes.
    4. Add the clams and white wine, toss together, cover with a lid and cook clams for about 4 minutes.
    5. Toss Linguine through cooked clams. Add parsley and drizzle with olive oil.
    6. Cook together for 1 more minute, serve immediately with crusty bread.

    Tips and FAQs

    • Whole Tomatoes - Cutting tomatoes in half releases juices and reduces into the pasta. Keep some cherry tomatoes whole for texture and visual appeal.
    • Lemon - Squeeze juice from half a lemon over the pasta before serving.
    • Pasta Water - Save ¼ cup of pasta water and mix in to keep saucy.
    • Spicy - To make it spicier, keep the chili pepper seeds in and add an extra pepper
    • Fennel - For extra flavor, sauté thinly sliced fennel before adding garlic and onions. It really kicks this recipe up a notch!
    mixing pasta and clams
    man holding bowl of vongole

    Can You Make Linguine Vongole in Advance

    No. Pasta with Clams are best served immediately after cooking. If prepared in advance before serving, the sauce will absorb into the pasta and the clams will be chewy.

    Can You Use Frozen Clams for Pasta Vongole

    Yes. If you can't find fresh clams, supermarkets sell frozen cooked clams which also work. However, for this recipe I used fresh clams, which are the tastiest.

    Types of Pasta for Vongole

    Use long style pasta noodles when making Pasta Vongole. For this recipe, I used fresh pasta, which only took minutes to cook. The most common pastas recommended are;

    • Spaghetti
    • Linguine
    • Vermicelli Pasta

    Best Wine to Cook With Pasta

    You don't need an expensive wine when you are cooking, save those for drinking. Don't spend more than $10, and make sure it's a dry wine. As this is an Italian recipe, I recommend a Pinot Grigio.

    linguine with fresh clams in a bowl

    Seafood Recipes You'll Love

    • Clam Chowder made with Fresh Clams
    • Mussels in White Wine Sauce
    • Crawfish Fettuccine (or use Shrimp)
    • Creamy Seafood Lasagna
    • Grilled Snapper
    • Boiled Crawfish - Russian Style
    • Beer Battered Fish
    • Grilled Oysters Kilpatrick

    Every seafood lover will love Linguine alle Vongole. Simple and rustic Italian food ready in less than 30 minutes. This restaurant quality recipe will inspire your dinner tonight. Bon Appetit! Приятного аппетита!

    linguine with fresh clams in a bowl

    Linguine Vongole

    Linguine with Clams or Linguine Vongole takes you back to the Italian seaside. Dinner ready in less than 30 minutes. Made with fresh clams, pasta and garlicky white wine sauce.
    5 from 27 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 20 minutes mins
    Total Time 30 minutes mins
    Course Dinner
    Cuisine Italian
    Servings 4 people

    Ingredients
      

    Pasta

    • 16 oz (500g) fresh Linguine, Spaghetti or Vermicelli

    Seafood

    • 2 lbs (1kg) small Clams

    Vongole Sauce

    • 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    • 5 cloves Garlic
    • 1 Chili Pepper
    • 7 oz (200g) Cherry Tomatoes
    • 1 cup dry White Wine
    • 2 handfuls Parsley

    Instructions
     

    • Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. While it's heating, start prepping your vegetables. Goal is to cook your pasta, so it's ready at the same time as the cooked clams. Cook your pasta al dente as per instructions.

    Vegetable Prep

    • Peel and slice the garlic. Thinly slice the de-seeded chili pepper. Keep seeds in if you like it spicy.
    • Finely chop the parsley. Keep the parsley stems to fry alongside the garlic.
    • Cut cherry tomatoes in half.

    Preparing Clams

    • Wash and drain the clams, purge sand if necessary. Many clams are sold de-sanded. Remove clams with broken shells.

    Making Linguine Vongole - this goes quickly

    • Place 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a deep frying pan. Saute the garlic, parsley stems, chili peppers and tomatoes until garlic starts to caramelize.
    • Add the clams and white wine, toss together and cover with a lid. Cook clams for about 4 minutes until they open up. Remove any clams that haven't opened up.
    • Drain the linguine and toss through cooked clams. Add fresh parsley and drizzle with olive oil.
    • Cook together for 1 more minute and serve immediately with crusty bread to mop up juices.
    Keyword linguine vongole, pasta vongole, pasta with clams, spaghetti vongole, vongole

    ©PetersFoodAdventures.com

    linguine with fresh clams
    linguine with fresh clams

    More Italian Recipes

    • bowl of tomato soup
      Cherry Tomato Soup
    • serving stuffed pasta shells
      Stuffed Pasta Shells
    • serving Chicken Alfredo Linguine
      Chicken Alfredo Linguine
    • serving bell pepper salad
      Bell Pepper Salad

    Primary Sidebar

    Peter's Food Adventures - where you'll find Russian recipes, Slavic and International favorites with some fun travel and cooking videos. A Russian Food Blogger.

    Hi, I'm Peter!

    Are you looking for a little inspiration in the kitchen? Let me show you how to create tasty meals for your family!

    Food is the ingredient that brings people together. I love authentic foods, and have a very multicultural food background. I am genuinely happy to share the recipes of foods that make me and my family happy. And hopefully yours too. 

    Learn more about me →

    As Featured On

    As Featured On various magazine brands

    Popular Recipes

    • asian potatoes in a bowl beside chinese spoons
      Crispy Asian Potatoes
    • These easy Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls are perfectly soft and fluffy, generously slathered with a vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. Cinnamon buns that taste like Cinnabon, quick, easy and delicious!
      Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
    • This Chili Mango Sauce is the perfect blend of sweet and spicy sauce. Delicious with seafood, chicken or pork, or as a dipping sauce. Easy to make with an explosion of tropical flavor, packs the perfect punch, extra spicy if you use habaneros! Not too spicy, not too sweet but just right!
      Mango Sauce
    • A Creamy Yogurt Garlic Sauce is perfect for your homemade Doner Kebab, Shawarma, Kofta, Souvlaki or Falafels. A Middle Eastern, flavor packed condiment, garlic dip or spread. So simple and delicious!
      Yogurt Garlic Sauce for Kebabs

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Intellectual Property

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2025 Peter's Food Adventures

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
    Cookie settingsACCEPT
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT
    270 shares
    • 15