Spaghetti with Clams and Nduja

To prepare spaghetti with clams and nduja, start by cleaning the clams. Make sure there are no broken or empty shells, they should be discarded. Then proceed to tap them against the sink or possibly on a cutting board. This operation is important to check for sand inside: healthy bivalves will remain closed, while those full of sand will open. Then place the clams in a colander placed over a bowl and rinse them. Then pour them into a bowl and add plenty of coarse salt. Leave the clams to soak for 2 hours 1. After this time, the clams will have purged any sand residues, rinse them again and drain them 2. Finely chop the parsley 3.

In a pan, heat a drizzle of oil. Then add a clove of garlic 4. Add the clams 5. Close with the lid 6 and cook for a few minutes over high heat. The clams will open with the heat, so shake the pan occasionally until they have completely opened. 

Meanwhile, bring a pot full of salted water to a boil, as soon as it boils add the spaghetti 7 and cook until al dente. When the clams are all open, immediately turn off the heat, otherwise the clams will overcook. Drain them 8, collect the cooking water and discard the garlic. Shell part of the clams and keep others whole 9.

Then pour the clam water into the same pan, add the nduja without the casing 10 and stir to combine. Drain the spaghetti here 11 and continue cooking using a bit of the pasta cooking water 12.  

At the end of cooking, add the clams 13 and the chopped parsley 14, a drizzle of oil, and a good grind of black pepper. Now the spaghetti with clams and nduja are ready to be served 15.