Fregola with arselle is one of the best-known seafood dishes in Sardinian cooking: toasted semolina pasta, cooked like a risotto in the clams' own liquid, with tomato, garlic and parsley. It takes about 40 minutes, plus the time to purge the clams. Here is the recipe the way it's made in southern Sardinia: ingredients, steps and the wine to serve alongside.
What is fregola?
Fregola (or fregula) is a durum wheat semolina pasta typical of Sardinia. It is made by rubbing semolina and water in the bottom of a wide bowl until small, irregular balls of 2–6 millimetres form. Then it is toasted in the oven: the toasting gives it its golden colour and hazelnut-like flavour. It comes in three sizes: fine, medium and large. For this recipe use medium or large, which hold up to risotto-style cooking without falling apart.
Arselle or clams: what's the difference?
In southern Sardinia "arselle" means clams — in Campidanese they are called cocciula. Outside the island you can use carpet-shell clams or other small clams: the dish works just the same. What matters most is the quality of the liquid they release, because that's what seasons the fregola.
Ingredients for 4 people
- Medium or large fregola: 320 g
- Arselle (clams): 1 kg
- Cherry tomatoes or tomato pulp: 250 g
- Garlic: 2 cloves
- Parsley: a bunch
- Extra virgin olive oil: 4 tablespoons
- Hot water or light fish stock: about 1 litre
- Chilli: optional
How do you make fregola with arselle?
1. Purge the clams
Put them in cold salted water (30 g of salt per litre) for 2–3 hours, changing the water at least once. This draws out the sand. Throw away any that are broken or stay open.
2. Open them in a pan
Wide pan, high heat, lid on: in 3–4 minutes the clams open. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth and set it aside: it is the real sauce of the dish. Shell half the clams and leave the rest whole.
3. Make the base
In the same pan, heat the oil with the garlic (and the chilli, if you like). Add the tomato and cook for 10 minutes over a medium heat.
4. Cook the fregola like a risotto
Pour the fregola into the base and let it take on the flavour for a minute. Add the strained clam liquid, then hot water or stock one ladle at a time, stirring. It takes 12–15 minutes depending on the size. It should stay loose and creamy ("all'onda"), not dry.
5. Finish and serve
Turn off the heat, add the clams and the chopped parsley, and cover for 2 minutes. Taste before adding salt: the clam liquid is already salty.
Which wine goes with fregola with arselle?
A Vermentino di Sardegna. Our Entu Vermentino di Sardegna DOC grows on granite soils in Villasimius and is fermented only in stainless steel: its saltiness meets that of the clams without covering it. If you want to go further, we've written a dish-by-dish Vermentino pairing guide.
A variation worth trying: a spoonful of grey mullet bottarga grated raw over the finished dish. If you like this kind of pasta dish, there's also our recipe for spaghetti with clams and bottarga.
At our place, fregola comes to the table when the mistral calms down and the boats go out. If you try it, tell us how it went.
Salude e trigu — Colline del Vento
