Creamy Corn Summer Pasta

My two favorite things about summer are enjoying home-grown produce and that time of day when the sun sets, and the temperatures finally start to cool down. The back porch is my favorite setting for dining al fresco, where I can watch swallows zip across the yard as the sky erupts into electric golds and pinks. This pasta, full of my favorite summer vegetables, is creamy without being heavy, and perfect for elegant backyard entertaining.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more

1 small onion, sliced thin

3 ears corn, shucked and kernels removed (2 cups)

1 medium zucchini, sliced thin half-moons

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, chopped

¼ cup half-and-half

1-pound dried fettuccine or pappardelle

½ pint cherry tomatoes

½ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more

⅓ cup fresh basil leaves, torn

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

Set a large pot of salted water over medium-high heat, slowly bring to a boil.

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes until soft. Add all but ¼ cup of the corn with ¼ cup water to the pan. Simmer until corn is almost tender, for about 5 minutes. Season with ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Transfer to a blender and puree until at a smooth pourable texture, adding more water if needed. Set aside.

Return the same skillet to medium-high heat and melt the butter. Add the reserved ¼ cup of whole corn kernels, zucchini, and sage. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until vegetables are just tender and butter starts to slightly brown. Add garlic and stir for another minute until fragrant. Add corn puree and half-and-half, bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low. Keep warm on low, stirring occasionally, while you cook the pasta.

Turn heat to high on a pot of salted water and bring to a rolling boil. Add pasta and cook until a minute or two shy of al dente, according to package directions, adding tomatoes during last 2 minutes of cooking time. Use a heat-proof measuring cup to reserve ½ cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain pasta.

Bring heat to skillet with corn sauce back up to medium. Add pasta with tomatoes, and half of the reserved pasta water. Toss to coat in the corn sauce. Cook for a minute, stirring frequently and adding more pasta water if the sauce is too thick. When pasta is cooked through, take off heat, stir in parmesan, basil, and red pepper flakes. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if needed. Serve in bowls with more grated parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil to finish.

Notes:

This dish requires careful timing in the last few steps. Keep an eye on a timer and test the pasta while it is cooking in the water. You want the pasta to be slightly undercooked when you drain it so that it will finish cooking in the corn sauce. This technique, of finishing pasta in the sauce, works with many pasta dishes, be it cream sauces, meat ragu, or tomato sauce. The trick is adding enough pasta water to the sauce to get absorbed into the pasta while it finishes cooking. The starchiness of the pasta water also helps to create a velvety sauce that sticks to the pasta. The cherry tomatoes, which are added whole to the pasta water, will cook and the skin will start to burst during the last few minutes of the pasta cooking time.

This week, I made this using fresh homemade pappardelle noodles. The cooking time for fresh pasta is much faster and will require less time finishing in the sauce. We enjoyed this with a perfectly chilled glass of Viognier on our back deck, for a memorable summer meal. Buon appetito!