A TASTE OF ITALIAN SUMMER, AT HOME

[bigletter]Since we can’t go to Italy, I made my best attempt at bringing Italy home. We’ve all been pining for some kind of travel, to spend some precious time anywhere but home, whether a short weekend away or a few weeks spent in a coastal European town. And while I’ve been loving settling into this new home of mine, I can’t help dream of something farther away, with better pasta than I can make myself or order on Postmates. If I were to choose a dream destination at this moment, at this time of year, it would undoubtedly be Italy. Anywhere on the coast really. Cinque Terre, Portofino, Amalfi, Puglia, Capri, Salerno; you name it, I’m lusting to be there.[/bigletter]
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I’ve always loved Italy for many reasons. The obsession with their cuisine came first, the beautiful language I studied, second, the day to day Italian culture third. After living in Verona for a semester I knew this country would always have my heart, and after starting to read Kevin Kwan’s new novel, I’ve become even more entranced with the picturesque descriptions he writes about on the island of Capri.

On my last adventure in Capri, my now husband and I enjoyed the best day at La Fontelina beach club, were we lounged, swam and drank spritz in the most serene rocky beach. Like the mess hall bell at summer camp, our lunch seating was precisely at 2pm, where I continued spritzing and had the best spaghetti alle vongole, which is quite similar to what Americans know as linguine with clams.

So what does one do to satisfy an impossible craving for Italian summer amid a worldwide pandemic?

Well I am not sure, but I said a prayer and attempted to cook shellfish for the first time. Cogli l’ attimo!

I decided to recreate a bit of the same Capri magic with a summery pasta and the now ridiculously trendy summer cocktail, Aperol spritz. Both fairly simple to make happen, as evidenced by my own success right here.

There are a multitude of recipes to make linguine with clams and after reading about several I just decided to take the ingredients I found most enticing.

1 cup of white wine

1/3 cup of parsley finely chopped

5 cloves of coarsely chopped garlic (peeled for those cooking averse like me)

Fresh linguine (I cooked the entire package and just added the amount I wanted which was about half)

2 lbs of littleneck clams (in shells, pre-washed)

1/2 cup butter (I used a vegan alternative)

1 green onion chopped finely

1/4 cup of olive oil

Lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

To start, make sure you fully clean the clams, which should not open until cooked. Throw out any that open before and while rinsing. Most seafood grocers will have cleaned them already but there are many more in depth ways to ensure no sand is left inside.

STEP ONE: boil the pasta and drain a few minutes before it’s fully cooked, as you will be adding it to the clams.

STEP TWO: while the pasta is cooking, add a bit of olive oil and garlic in a saucepan, cook for about 30 seconds and then reduce to a simmer, add the parsley, clams, green onion, and white wine. Cover and let cook until the clam shells open up. Should take about 6-8 minutes.

STEP THREE: add the pasta to the saucepan, along with butter and stir for about a minute or two. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy immediately!

I happened to have these lovely little shells that I’ve been using lately for snacks and couldn’t help continuing with the seaside theme. They weren’t very practical to eat off when on a table, however, they made great small plates when held in the palm of my hand, guarding my prized pasta dish from a little fury visitor!

The spritz recipe is extremely simple, but since I can’t always handle the sweetness I end up doing a little more club soda and a little less Aperol. I highly recommend using a cocktail skewer to hold the orange slice because I hate when it hits me in the face while I drink, but that’s just me!