Spaghetti alle vongole

For 4 people

• 500g (1 lb) of spaghetti
• 800g (1 lb, 10 oz) of clams
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3dl (1^1/4 cup) of white wine
• 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• A few cherry tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Fleur de sel, pepper
• Coarse salt

Beforehand, soak the clams in salted water (35g (1 oz) of coarse salt/liter), to drain the sand off, for at least 2 hours.

In a large pan, heat a little bit of olive oil, and sauté the garlic cloves cut in thin slices and the finely chopped flat-leaf parsley stems.
Add the clams and the white wine, cover and simmer for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat. Shell the clams but let some of them unshelled for presentation.
If some clams aren’t opened, remove them.

In the meantime, cook the spaghetti al dente.
Collect 2 tbsp of cooking water and add them to the clams.

Drain the spaghetti, add 4 tbsp of olive oil and mix gently with the clams.
Add two pinches of fleur de sel, ground pepper, a few cherry tomatoes cut in quarters, and finely chopped parsley leaves.

Serve immediately.