It’s the end of summer, or so the autumn-lovers among us hope. Most days are still hot, but there are hints of fall: a brush of yellow in the trees, cooler mornings and evenings, the scent of roasting green chile in the air at the growers’ market. And, at the store, piles of ears of corn. I love corn served on the cob, with butter and salt or made into the Mexican street-food treat elotes. I love it made into corn pudding as well, but I’m not yet excited about turning on my oven.
So I was casting around for more uses when I came across a recipe in Milk Street magazine. It seemed brilliant. Rather than cutting the kernels off the cob, grate them on a box grater, creating a nearly instant sauce. The magazine recipe boosted the corn flavor by simmering the cobs to make a corn stock, then adding it to the grated corn. But what I found so appealing about this was its simplicity; I didn’t want to fuss around with making even the simplest of stocks.
So I didn’t. And the result was incredibly delicious: a bowl of creamy, fragrant pasta that balanced neatly between light and filling. Despite a somewhat bland appearance – which I punched up with red and yellow tomatoes – the pasta was bursting with fresh corn sweetness, a bowl of summer if I’ve ever tasted one. Whip it up on a hot evening and eat it outside, while cicadas serenade the sunset.
Sweet Corn Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 ears corn, shucked
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 shishito chiles, chopped (optional)
- 2 tablespoons cream (optional)
- 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth, or water
- 1/4 cup water
- 8 ounces pasta, chunky shapes like ziti or shells
- 1 medium ripe tomato, chopped
- 4 ounces small fresh mozzarella balls (such as ciliegine or pearls)
- A few leaves basil, torn into small pieces (optional)
- salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Put a large pot of water on to boil, to cook the pasta in later.
- On the large holes of a box grater, grate the corn from the cobs. You will have a slightly chunky sauce.
- Melt butter in a skillet; add shishitos if using (try adding a few shakes of crushed red pepper if not). Saute a minute or two, until slightly softened. Add the corn, cream if using, broth, water, and salt to taste. Simmer until thickened to a consistency similar to heavy cream. Set aside over low heat.
- Boil pasta according to package directions. Set aside 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta.
- Toss pasta with corn sauce; taste and add more salt if needed. If it seems too thick, add pasta water by the tablespoon and toss until you like the consistency. Divide pasta into two bowls and top each with tomato, mozzarella, basil if using, and freshly ground pepper. Serve warm (but not necessarily steaming-hot).
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