This pasta is creamy…yet there’s no cream. Instead, the sauce is made with puréed corn. When you combine that fresh corn with basil, it’s a perfect summer dish. But don’t worry – I know I’m posting this long after summer has ended so rest assured it still works all year long. I followed this recipe from the NYT and it was a great summer pasta dish.
Cook pasta until just under al dente and save 1/2 c. of the pasta water. While the pasta is cooking, heat oil in a pan and add salt plus the whites from 1 bunch of scallions (you’ll use the greens later). Cook until soft (about 3 min). Add ¼ cup water and 1 3/4 c. corn (most of the corn from 2 cobs – save 1/4 cup of it); simmer until corn is heated through and almost tender (3-5 min). Add salt and pepper and then transfer it all to a blender to pulse until smooth. You may need to add a bit of water to get the sauce consistency right. Don’t bother cleaning the skillet because now you’re going to add 3 tbsp butter and let it melt. Heat the same skillet over high heat. Add butter and let melt. To the butter, add your reserved corn and let it cook through for about 2 minutes before pouring in the corn sauce and stirring to combine. Reduce the heat to medium, add pasta and some of the pasta water to the sauce and get everything coated. Finally, stir in almost all of the scallion greens, 1/2 c. grated parm, 1/3 c. torn basil, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, and salt/pepper. Garnish with a bit of fresh lemon, some more scallion greens, and a few grinds of black pepper.
Never thought I would say creamy pasta and summer went together, but here we are. Also, it should be noted that I made this at the height of the TikTok corn song popularity and that synergy was just perfection.
Peaches to Apples 