Fregula con le Arselle
Fregula con le Arselle
Toasted Couscous with Clams
Fregula con arselle is a blend of old and new. Fregula, a toasted pasta very similar to toasted Israeli (pearl) couscous, has been made in Sardinia for about one thousand years. Clams, on the other hand, only entered the mainstream island cuisine with the arrival of widespread refrigeration and rise of seaside tourism in the twentieth century. (Before that, Sardinians didn’t catch much fresh seafood, and fregula was paired with vegetable or meat stews.) Today, the clam variety you’ll encounter most frequently on the Sardinian coast is called arselle, or vongole veraci, a small, meaty, warm-water bivalve that can be substituted elsewhere with Manila clams or littleneck clams. Cook them as an islander would: just barely, so they retain their tenderness and fresh sea flavor without becoming chewy. And if you want to give this dish an additional Sardinian kick, finish it with a dusting of grated bottarga (see page 78)—but don’t you dare put cheese on it. Serving clams with cheese is a mortal sin in Italy.
Ingredients (8)
Ingredients (8)
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat.
When the oil begins to shimmer, add the garlic and cook until it just starts to take color, about 3 minutes.
Add the parsley and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the clams and wine.
Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, shaking the pan to coax open the clams.
Using tongs, remove the clams just as they open and set aside in a medium bowl.
Add the fregula to the pan with the clam juice.
Simmer, adding water as necessary to keep the fregula nearly covered, until the juices in the pan have thickened and the fregula has lost its raw flavor.
Add the cooked clams back to the pan and swirl vigorously to combine.
Season with salt as needed.
Plate and serve with chopped parsley sprinkled on top.
This recipe is part of the Food of the Italian Islands digital cookbook, and is only available once you've purchased the cookbook.
Purchase ($25.00)
