Rachel Khoo's Spaghetti vongole

When I was filming in Naples last year I had some brilliant versions of marinara sauce, on pizza, pasta and with big bowls of seafood. They aren’t afraid of using chilli in southern Italy, and while you can make this dish with tomatoes, fresh or tinned (the local variety San Marzano are some of the best in the world), I quite like the simplicity and punch you get from just using garlic, wine and chilli. The pangrattato (breadcrumb mixture) isn't strictly necessary, but it adds extra crunch and a bit of carb on carb never did anyone any harm.

Spicy spaghetti vongole with herby pangrattato

Serves 4

100g stale bread

Small handful of basil

2 cloves garlic, peeled

50g butter

1kg clams

300g spaghetti

1 red chilli

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

200ml dry white wine

1 lemon

Pulse the bread, basil and peeled garlic in a food processor to make coarse breadcrumbs. Place the butter in a large frying pan and melt on a medium heat. Add the breadcrumb mixture and toast in the butter until golden and fragrant. Set aside. Wash the clams in cold water. Drain in a colander. Fill a large saucepan with water, bring to the boil and season with salt. Cook the spaghetti until it is about 1 minute off the cooking time. In the meantime, finely chop the chilli (remove and discard the seeds). Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Heat the butter and olive oil in a saucepan with a lid, add the chilli and garlic and cook over a medium heat until softened. Crank up the heat and add the clams followed by the white wine. Place the lid on the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes (if you have a glass lid on the pan, you can keep an eye on them steaming). Once the clams have opened, toss in the cooked spaghetti so it’s covered with the sauce, then serve with a sprinkling of the breadcrumbs and a slice of lemon.

Illustration by Heather Gatley