Spicy vongole pasta with fried capers
With Christmas just around the corner (where has the year gone?!), now is the time to start planning your Christmas Day menu, and this dish is truly my idea of heaven for that quintessential Aussie Christmas, with a little pasta flare of course.
This sauce is a riff on a classic vongole, with the additional of a little chilli to pack a touch of heat. Using a high quality extra virgin olive oil is essential for creating the base of this sauce - it is an oil-based emulsion after all, so what you use here is truly evident in the finished dish.
This recipe was developed for, and kindly sponsored by Cobram Estate and made using their Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oils.
Spicy vongole pasta with fried capers
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the pasta
350g tipo 00 flour
3 eggs and 3 yolks (roughly 190g total weight)
1 tablespoon Cobram Estate Coratina Extra Virgin Olive Oil
For the sauce
8 tablespoons Cobram Estate Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4-5 stalks of parsley, stems and leaves separated, leaves finely choppes
4 garlic cloves, 2 smashed (keep the skin on - helps not to burn!), 2 finely sliced
1kg vongole, de-sanded
1 cup dry white wine
1 hot red chilli, finely diced
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
For the fried capers
4 tablespoons Cobram Estate Hojiblanca Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 tablespoons capers
Method
Pasta
Place the flour in a mound on your work surface and make a well in the centre. Pour the eggs into the well along with the extra virgin olive oil, and using a fork, slowly begin to whisk until it’s all come together.
Start incorporating a little bit of flour at a time, whisking vigorously until you have a thick custard-like consistency.
Switch to a bench scraper, starting in front of you scoop up some flour from the outer edge and flip it over the centre. Use a chopping motion to cut the flour into the egg mixture. Repeat, moving around all sides of the flour.
Once you have a shaggy dough, use your hands to press into a ball. It might be a bit crumbly at first but keep going, and once you can see and feel a ball starting to take shape, it’s time to knead.
After 5 minutes of kneading, cover the dough in something airtight and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. This will allow the dough to rehydrate and the gluten relax.
Return to the dough and continue kneading for another 5-7 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic, and not sticky at all.
Cover the dough again and let it rest for a minimum of 30 minutes at room temperature before rolling and shaping.
If you need to leave your dough for longer, rest it in the fridge and bring it to room temperature before rolling and shaping.
NB - this is a fairly dry dough to work with, if you’re finding it hard to work with simply cover with cling film and let it rehydrate for 10 minutes, and use a spray bottle of water to spritz the dough during the kneading process.
Shaping the dough
Once the dough has rested, using a pasta sheeter or a rolling pin by hand, roll the dough to ~1mm thickness (setting 6 on a Marcato Atlas).
Allow the sheets to dry for a few minutes before dusting liberally with flour and cutting.
Place the sheet vertically in front of you, roll the bottom end up to the middle and the top end down to meet in the middle.
Cut thin strands with a large knife, unravel the pasta and place in nests until ready to cook.
NB - if you have the time, it’s best to allow the pasta to dry for at least an hour before cooking as it will result in a better cooked texture.
Fried capers
Place the capers on some paper towel and blot thoroughly to dry as much as possible.
Heat a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil then carefully add the capers.
The oil will bubble and splutter so be mindful - fry the capers for several minutes until blistered.
Drain on paper towel and set aside for later.
Vongole sauce
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt generously.
In a large pan, heat 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over a medium heat and add the parsley stalks and 2 smashed garlic cloves.
Cook for a few minutes until fragrant then remove from the pan.
Tip in the vongole and the white wine and give everything a good shake. Allow the vongole to cook for approx 5 minutes until they have all opened.
Remove the vongole from the pan and place into a strainer over a bowl to catch the cooking liquid. Strain through the remaining liquid so everything is in the bowl.
Remove the meat from about half of the vongole, keep the other half in their shells, and discard any that haven’t opened.
In the same pan, add another 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over a medium heat, this time adding the sliced garlic and chilli.
Sauté for a few min then add the cherry tomatoes and allow these to cook for a couple of minutes until they start to blister slightly.
Ladle in the reserved vongole cooking liquid and agitate the pan to start building the sauce.
Meanwhile cook the pasta until al dente - from fresh this should really only take a couple of minutes - so as you add the pasta, also add the vongole back into the sauce.
Add the cooked pasta directly to the sauce, stir through the chopped parsley and toss vigorously.
Serve with fried capers and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
