France yet again has proved to be the perfect destination to satisfy all of my seafood cravings. Even better, this year included more oysters, mussels, crevettes, sea snails, shrimps and clams. The Arcachon basin is simply alive with some of the best seafood I have ever eaten and we will be returning there next year for more of the same.
Our apartment overlooking Arcachon bay was on the beach road itself which meant we could pop home for lunch but as you can imagine, we sacrificed space for location so the kitchen was tiny. Hence, we ate out ALOT as a family for the first time ever and I loved it!
On the three nights that I did cook, it had to be simple. First up was my usual CHILLI CRAB LINGUINE followed by LEMON & BASIL SPAGHETTI. The last dish I cooked was something I haven’t posted before but it is something so good I wanted to share it with you.
Spaghetti vongole. Spaghetti with clams. Seafood heaven for shellfish lovers like me. The perfect dish to prepare in a tiny holiday kitchen along with a beef tomato salad and lots of bread to dip into the pasta and the salad dressing. So, be generous with your oil and vinegar.
The clams for this dish are bought from the local covered food market. I just asked for clams for spaghetti vongole and they scooped me up a bag knowingly.
Before the recipe I must say that this years oysters were just sublime. The best were wild oysters fro the Isle d’Oiseau. They were all served simply with lemon, bread and butter. The very last night’s oysters were something to behold. Creamy, delicate bites of the sea.
Spaghetti Vongole
Ingredients
- 25 g Butter
- 4 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 Large garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp Dried chilli flakes
- 1 glass Dry white wine
- 2 Handfuls of clams pre-soaked in water for a few hours in fridge to remove the grit,
- 1/2 Lemon zest & juice
- 1/2 bunch Flat leaf parsley finely chopped
- 200 g Spaghetti
- Parmesan to serve
Instructions
Cook your spaghetti according to packet instructions and make the sauce while the pasta is cooking,
Heat the butter and oil in a wide shallow saucepan or frying pan with a lid (for later) and fry the garlic and chilli for a couple of minutes before adding in the white wine,
Turn the heat up to full and throw in your drained, de-sanded clams and cook with the lid on until they open up (3mins approx),
Remove the lid and add in the lemon zest, juice and chopped parsley,
- 5. Add in your cooked, drained pasta with a small amount of the pasta water and check seasoning.
- 6. Mix the clams with the spaghetti thoroughly and serve with Parmesan and a bowl to put the clam shells into.
Recipe Notes
The clams in this recipe could easily be replaced with mussels.
What a delectable recipe, we haven’t been clam digging this year, but I’m book marking your recipe for New Years, it sounds delicious, and the photos are superb.
Thanks Jude, I remeber reading about clams on your blog and thought they looked amazing. So pleased we have found them to enjoy now in France!
Delicious! How wonderfully fresh and fabulous. I am off camping this weekend to the Atlantic coast…just up from Arcachon. Such a lovely area. Can’t wait x
Oh I wish I was back there now….have a great time!
Oh to have all of that lush seafood! It is a crime that all of ours gets shipped immediately when ours is just as good if not better. It sounds like a brilliant foodie holiday with a lovely mix of casual fresh home-away-from-home cooking and eating out. It is great when you can go out with children to eat. And I bet they ate very well indeed. When my daughter was only wee she had a snail and creme fraiche pizza at a French roadside cafe in the middle of nowhere (somewhere in Provence). She still remembers it fondly! Glad you are back safe and well, and with a show-stopper of a simple supper for us too 😀
You are so right, the children are really appreciating food more now and are so much more willing to give things a try. The 2 girls tried their first oyster this year, am not sure they liked them but still they willingly ate it without spitting it out!
Oh this looks divine. I am finding it hard to get a good independent seafood supplier in Cambridge. Such a shame that we are on an island yet shopping for and eating seafood in France is always so satisfying.
I have the same trouble here too. That’s why I go mad for seafood and fish whenever I am away!
Sounds like a perfect foodie holiday to me! I love pasta alle vongole – your dish is so appealing! I only tend to have it at restos. Although it is a pretty straight forward dish to make, I find it hard to get good quality clams to make the dish. Glad the seafood was in abundance during your hols!
that looks and sounds delicious. I am so glad that you had a lovely holiday too.
Need to source a good sea food supplier in my patch of London.
Thanks Helen, clams are yet another shellfish I love but would struggle to find near me. The local covered food market where we were staying had some of the best seafood I have ever seen. I think this is because all of the French that holiday where we were staying had high expectations and know the seafood well so there is demand for the good stuff.
Ohhhh drooling! I love Spaghetti Vongole. The best one I had was actually in New York in Little Italy!
Amazing, yes New york is excellent for seafood I agree!