Leave the clams in the water for a maximum of 2 hours where you have added a fistful of coarse salt (not more than a couple of hours otherwise the clams will lose their flavor). Move them occasionally to facilitate the release of sand. Once they have been drained, put them out of the tank, taking care not to take the sand deposited on the bottom of the container. Remove the open clams and the ones with the broken shell.

Remove the hardest stems of parsley, chop the twigs and leaves with your hands or chop them coarsely with a knife.

In a large pan fry the garlic cut into coarse pieces over a high heat and add some chili if you want.

When the garlic is lightly browned, pour the clams into the pan and cover with a lid. Within 3/4 minutes they will start to open. Wait another couple of minutes and turn off the fire. Do not cook too many clams to make them chewy. Remove the clams that will not open with cooking.

Shell about half of the cooked clams. Filter the cooking liquid with a passino, add a ladle of water and cook for a couple of minutes.

Now gather all the clams (with the shell and without) and cook over medium heat for about a minute in the filtered sauce.

A moment before turning off the heat, sprinkle with parsley and mix also the grated lemon peel.

Turn and serve on the table directly in the pan providing good homemade hot bread.