My friend Melvin had enjoyed Spaghetti V.G.P. at a restaurant in Sicily, and suggested we make prepare this. Pasta with vongole, gamberi (shrimp) and pistachios is quite common in Sicilian restaurants; it uses local ingredients and is a great flavor combination. All we had to go by was his memory and the description on the restaurant menu: “Vongole veraci e gambero rosa locale sfumati al vino bianco e leggermente colorati con salsa di pomodori e granella di pistacchio”, which translates to “Vongole veraci [clams] and local pink shrimp, deglazed with white wine and lightly colored with tomato sauce and ground pistachios”. Of course we used the flavor from the shrimp shells and the liquid from the vongole to make the sauce, and toasted the pistachios to augment their flavor. Because it was supposed to be only lightly colored with tomato sauce, I decided to use fresh tomatoes and only a small amount. The resulting dish was delicious.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 320 grams (.7 lbs) spaghetti
• 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) vongole (I used local cockles)
• 450 grams (1 lb) large shrimp with heads and shells
• 40 grams peeled pistachios
• 160 ml (2/3 cup) dry white wine, divided
• 1 garlic clove
• extra virgin olive oil
• 300 grams (.66 lb) ripe plum tomatoes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Mix 1 litre (1 quart) of water with 30 grams (4 tsp) of salt. Then add the clams, and allow them to purge themselves for an hour or so.

Peel and devein the shrimp. Season the shrimp meat with salt, place in a bowl, cover, and reserve in the refrigerator. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pot in which the shrimp heads and shells fit snugly, add the shrimp heads and shells, and stir over medium-high heat until the heads and shells are orange.

Then cover with water, cover the pan, and simmer gently for 20 minutes to make shrimp stock.

When the shrimp stock is done, strain it through a sieve, pressing down on the shrimp heads to get all the liquid out. Discard the shrimp shells. (If you like you can reserve some shrimp heads for decoration.)

Bring the shrimp stock to a boil and reduce to about half.

While the shrimp stock is simmering, peel the tomatoes and remove the seeds. The process for peeling the tomatoes is described in this post. Puree the tomatoes with a blender or food processor.

Toast the pistachios in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes at 180C/350F. Try to rub off as much of the skin as possible, then place them in a food processor…

…and process until the pistachios are coarsely ground.

Drain the clams and submerge them in cold water without salt. Check if all the clams are closed, and discard any that are not. Drain the clams again and place them in a pan with 80 ml (1/3 cup) of dry white wine. Cover the pan, and put it over high heat until the clams have opened. Turn off the heat as soon as the clams have opened.

Strain the clams, reserving the liquid they have released. Take most of the meat out of the clams, but leave some whole for decoration.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Lightly salt the water, add the spaghetti, and set the timer for 2 minutes less than the time indicated on the package.

In the meantime, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan. Slice the garlic thickly, and stir the garlic in the oil until the garlic is golden brown (tilt the pan to ‘deep fry’ the garlic and make this happen more quickly). Discard the garlic.

Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels, and add it to the frying pan with garlic-infused olive oil.

Very briefly fry the shrimp over very high heat, and take the shrimp out of the pan with a strainer as soon as it is colored on both sides. Place the shrimp on a plate, and slice it as soon as it has cooled off sufficiently for you to handle it. (In the photo you can see I had already sliced the shrimp before pan frying it, but it is actually easier to sear the shrimp before slicing it, as you will have less turning to do.)

Deglaze the pan with the remaining 80 ml (1/3 cup) white wine.

Add the pureed tomatoes, and stir to incorporate them.

Add the liquid from the clams (being careful to leave any sand behind)…

…and the shrimp stock.

Allow the liquid to reduce over medium-high heat.

When the timer beeps, drain the spaghetti, and add it to the pan with the sauce.

There is a bit of timing and heat management involved here, as there should be enough liquid left to finish cooking the spaghetti for 1-2 minutes in the sauce, but not so much liquid that it is still too soupy by the time the spaghetti is cooked. Use low heat if you think it may become too dry before the spaghetti is done, or high heat if you think there is too much liquid.

Add the shrimp and clam meat for the last 1 minute of cooking so they can reheat.

Turn off the heat, and add about half of the ground pistachios. Stir to mix.

Serve at once on preheated plates, decorated with clams and sprinkled with the remaining ground pistachios. Finish with a drizzle of the best extra virgin olive oil you have, and some freshly ground black pepper.

Wine pairing

This is great with a Vermentino, Verdicchio, or Fiano.