Both types are also called arselle in Liguria and Tuscany. Italians prepare this dish two ways: in bianco, i. Traditionally, the bivalves are cooked quickly in hot olive oil to which plenty of garlic has spaghetti alfredo added.
Linguine also may be used for the pasta in preference to spaghetti. Italian-American recipes sometimes use cream in this dish, but in its area of origin this would be considered most unorthodox. Gillian Riley considers cream alien to the spirit of Italian cooking, remarking that, “the way cream dumbs down flavor and texture is not appropriate to the subtle flavor and consistency of pasta. In America cheese is sometimes added to this dish, although Italians believe it overpowers the simple flavors of the clams and of good quality olive oil.
Info on Spaghetti alle vongole on Italiantourism. See, Gillian Riley’s entry on “Cream” in The Oxford Companion to Italian Food, p. For a discussion about the Italian dislike of putting cheese on pasta dishes with seafood from an American point of view, see Robert Trachtenberg, “Just Grate”, New York Times Magazine, March 30, 2008. Trachtenberg terms the prohibition “a mantra. Easy weeknight friendly spaghetti and meat sauce that’s made completely from scratch.
