Food You Can Eat: Corn Pasta

This is a nice summer dish, served warm, or I suppose you could serve it cold if you added the cheese once it was chilled?

Cook 12 ounces of orecchiette to nearly al dente (or any smaller pasta with nooks and crannies to catch the sauce; you do not want long pasta like linguini or spaghetti). Drain and reserve 1 & 1/2 cups of the water you cooked it in. Set it aside.

Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan, salt and pepper to taste, and sauté the whites of a big bunch of scallions (8-12) about 3-4 minutes or until soft and a tiny bit golden, saving the green parts for later.

Add  1/2 cup of the reserved water, 1 & 1/2 cups corn, setting aside an extra 1/2 to 1 cup of corn for later (fresh is best, canned works), and simmer about 4 minutes. Add more salt and pepper if you wish, and then pour it into a blender and puree. You want it to be smooth, so you can add more of the reserved water if you need it.

Turn the heat under the frying pan up to high and add 3+tablespoons of butter. Once it melts, and the extra 1/2 to 1 cup of corn and sauté it until the corn and butter brown a tiny bit.  Pour in the corn purée and cook for a minute to combine.

Turn down the heat to medium and mix in the pasta and ½ cup or so of the reserved pasta water – more if it seems too thick and cook just a bit to combine the flavor.

Mix in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of torn fresh bail, chop and add the scallion greens you had set aside, sprinkle in red pepper flakes to taste (I use only 1/2 teaspoon), and squirt with the juice of ½ a lemon. Stir it up, gently. I suspect that cherry tomatoes, capers, or roasted garlic would be a nice addition at this point, although I have not done so.

Now is when you toss it with ½ to 1 cup Parmesan cheese, saving some to sprinkle on top “for pretty” when serving. I also sprinkle some fresh parsley on top for color. When you have it plated or in bowls, give it a drizzle of very good olive oil. I guess if you are serving it cold, wait to add the cheese ‘til just before (I have always served it warm).

Now for the FYCE song of the day, Corn Circles by the Waterboys:

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About Elliecoo 556 Articles
Four dogs, one partner. The dogs win.

5 Comments

  1. *adds the waterboys to bands i only know coz hannibal decided to invite me over to this wonderful place of food and music*
    have i mentioned i like it here?
    anyhoo…on the the subject of korn

    • The Water Boys were a good band, and the one guy left and recorded as World Party who I liked even more. I’m glad you joined us in our little corner of the web.

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