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Spaghetti with Clams in White Wine Sauce

A pasta dish of spaghetti tossed with clams, garlic, red pepper flakes, white wine, lemon, lime, parsley, and butter.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Spaghetti with Clams in White Wine Sauce

Serves 6
Total1 hr

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the pasta and clams

  1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a rolling boil. Add the spaghetti, watching the cooking time to prevent overcooking.

  2. Poach the clams in a small saucepan with white wine for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Make the sauce

  1. Heat a small frying pan with a generous amount of olive oil. Add the minced garlic, red pepper flakes, chopped parsley, and lemon zest to the pan, then heat for about 3 minutes.

  2. Add about half of the white wine used to poach the clams. Continue heating on high for a few minutes to reduce slightly.

  3. Add the cooked clams to the sauce and turn off the heat.

Combine and serve

  1. Drain the cooked pasta in a sieve or colander and return it to the saucepan. Add the salted butter to the pasta and mix thoroughly to thicken the sauce slightly.

  2. Add the cooked clams to the sauce and pasta. Mix thoroughly, taking care not to damage the clams.

  3. Serve in a high-sided bowl, ensuring each guest receives a fair share of clams.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

381Calories
26 gProtein
26 gFat
11 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Shrimp100g cooked99
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Lemon + limetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,289 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Pepper + limetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,491 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Lime + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together547 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Clams
Provide the main seafood flavour and tender texture when gently poached and not overcooked.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma, and reduces to a flavourful base for the sauce.
Garlic
Adds aromatic pungency that mellows and sweetens when gently heated in oil.
Salted butter
Adds fat and richness, helping to slightly thicken and emulsify the sauce.
Spaghetti
Forms the base of the dish, carrying the sauce and clams.

The step that matters

Poach the clams gently. Clams toughen and shrink when overcooked, so they should be poached only until they open. Short, gentle heat keeps them tender and juicy for the final mix.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, clam, pepper, white wine, lemon, lime, parsley):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Corianderfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, clam, pepper, white wine, lemon, lime, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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