This is a quintessential Italian dish, available on most restaurants in Italy. Like all Italian cuisine, it is the epitome of simplicity - minimal ingredients of the best quality, cooked simply. And simply delicious!

I have used both lupini and veraci clams here - the lupini are small, fun to eat and are added early in the cook to provide a tasty background flavour to the broth. The veraci are larger, more meaty and provide the drama for the dish. Substitute whatever you can find locally - they will be wonderful.

Serves 4

Ingredients 

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 medium onion or shallot, finely diced

• 6 cloves garlic, finely diced

• 1/2 leek, fine sliced

• 2 tbsp anchovies or anchovy paste

• 2 tbsp lemon zest

• chili or jalapeno, fine sliced, to taste

• 1/2c white wine

• 1/2c good, home-made fish stock

• 1 tsp wild fennel or, if not available, 1/4 tsp of ground fennel

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 0.5kg pasta (a thin no. 15 spaghetti or spaghettini)

• 0.5kg lupini clams

• 1.0kg veraci clams

• 1/4c parsley, chopped

Instructions 

1. Put a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil for the pasta.

2. Over very low heat, saute the oil, onion, garlic, leek, anchovy, lemon zest and hot peppers. Stir frequently and cook until softened - about 10 minutes.

3. Turn up the heat and add the white wine. Cook until reduced in half.

4. Lower the heat and add the fish stock and the lupini clams. Simmer for minimum of 10 minutes.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Add pasta to the boiling, salted water.

7. 3 minutes after the pasta goes in, add the veraci clams to the sauce.

8. When the pasta is 85% done, add the pasta to the sauce and reserve the pasta water. Toss and stir to combine. Continue to cook the pasta in the sauce until it is done to taste, adding the pasta water as required.

9. Stir in the parsley and serve immediately with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top.