Fregula with Clams and Chiles from Molto Batali: Simple family meals from my home to yours

• By foodie User FoodieReview
  More recipes by this foodie >
• Difficulty:
• Course: Main Course
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
60g prosciutto, cut into small dice
1 cup dry white wine
1 pinch saffron threads
1 cup chicken stock
½ cup basic tomato sauce (for quick results, try my Mario Batali pasta sauces by Gia
Russa)
2 tablespoons salt
750g dried saffron fregula (or use Israeli couscous)
1 kilo tiny clams (cockles), scrubbed and rinsed
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
Leaves from 1 bunch fresh Italian parsley

Method

Bring 2 litres of water to a boil in a large pasta pot. While the water is heating, heat the olive oil in a 12- to 14-inch sauté pan over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the onions, garlic, and prosciutto, and sauté until softened. Add the white wine, saffron, chicken stock, and tomato sauce, and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer.

When the water comes to a boil, add the salt. Drop the fregula into the water and cook for 5 minutes less than the package instructions indicate. Just before it is done, ladle
¼ cup of the cooking water into the sauce. Drain the pasta in a colander and add it to the sauce. Then add the clams and cook until the texture and liquidity resemble a wet risotto. Add the red pepper flakes and the parsley, stir thoroughly, and pour into a warmed serving bowl.

Serve immediately.

©Molto Batali: Simple family meals from my home to yours by Mario Batali published by HarperCollins Publishers available now in all good bookstores