Pasta Vongole

Today a recipe that has been requested often by you guys! Simplicity graces the dish and I know few people who don't like this. Even if you are not a super fan of fish/ seafood this is often tasty anyway. Just make sure the basics are all good: good quality pasta, good fresh tomatoes, fresh arugula, nice olive oil and then we can get started!

There is 1 secret ingredient in this dish: fish sauce. For those who ever cook Asian food, this is a familiar ingredient. It stinks incredibly when you start using it, but don't let this deter you. It gives a great deep intense flavor to dishes. I use it super much in numerous dishes, also in French, Italian dishes, for example. I found a great bottle at our local Italian specialty store, fish sauce from Sicily. Really top stuff, several have already gone through it here. You can buy it at the webshop of: Basta Poco. Their webshop goes live within now and 2 weeks. But you can also use an Asian variety just fine.

For 2 persons

Ingredients

• Bag of fresh Vongole
• Bag of arugula
• leaf parsley
• box of tomatoes halved
• 1 lemon
• glass of white wine
• Grab good pasta
• quality olive oil extra virgin
• olive oil for frying
• half a red pepper
• cube of butter
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 large red onion
• pepper from the pepper mill
• salt or fish sauce

How to

1. Rinse the Vongole well.
   
   
2. Cook the pasta according to instructions with a dash of salt and olive oil (does not have to be an expensive quality oil).
   
   
3. Chop the onion, garlic, red pepper and stalks of parsley.
   
   
4. Fry this mixture in a splash of olive oil until it begins to smell good but without discoloring.
   
   
5. Now add the Vongole and stir it through
   
   
6. Now you are going to deglaze this with the white wine, juice of the lemon and a generous splash of the fish sauce (you can add fish sauce later if you want it saltier, be careful with it. Start with a tablespoon).
   
   
7. Put the lid on the pan and stir frequently. The shells will now open. When they are all open it is ready. It should not be cooked longer either, they will become tough.
   
   
8. Cut the tomatoes in half and add them at the last minute when the pan comes off the heat. Swirl in some more freshly ground pepper and stir in the cube of butter.
   
   
9. Stir the arugula into the pasta and now pour in some good extra virgin olive oil.
   
   
10. Divide the pasta among the plates and spoon the divine shells over it and don't forget the liquid that comes with it. Now add some leaves of the leafy parsley and ENJOY!