It’s springtime, and one of the joys is going out to the seaside where the simple restaurants of the beach resorts have already opened up, sitting in the sun drinking in the warm rays and the sea’s sounds. All this of course while indulging in the quintessential Italian beach meal . . spaghetti alle vongole.

The recipe? Use 1 kg. of the fresh vongole veraci (photo 1), literally “real clams” in Italian. Make sure you open the plastic bag in the frig, so they don’t suffocate. When ready rinse them over and over again under cold running water until no more sand runs off. Never soak them, you don’t want to drown them in “fresh water”. The idea is to do them in by cooking!

In a large fry pan, over medium-low heat, place 4 tablespoons of oil (olive, what else?!), a chopped garlic clove, a few sprigs of Italian parsley, and throw the clams into this when heated, cover and move the pan back and forth as if you were making popcorn. Slowly they will begin to pop – open that is. Lower the heat until they all open, you don’t want their juices to dry up. Once opened, transfer them to a bowl, discarding any unopened and cracked ones (meaning pre-dead), and very gently pour off the liquid into a glass. Stop when the bits of sand at the bottom start to appear, or filter through a cloth.

Now, wipe (don’t rinse!) the saucepan free of any remaining sand. And once again, put several cloves of chopped garlic in 1/2 cup of olive oil and get them golden on low fire. (Optional: a glass of white wine into the oil and garlic once golden. Let the wine bubble a couple of minutes before putting in the clams) Then toss in your clams, the filtered juice from earlier, a couple of tablespoons of fresh chopped Italian parsley, a peperoncino or two, and give the clams a couple minutes to get coated, stirring them around. Toss a pound of al dente spaghetti, not very well drained, into the saucepan with the clams and mix it all together again over low fire for a minute more or so . . . and ecco! (photo 2), the Italian seaside on your table.