Please give a great big welcome to Dee from Cupcakes and Crowbars! She’s got fabulous recipes and fun house projects, and she’s got a delicious pasta dish for us today.
Living in North Texas gives me access to all sorts of wonderful things; one of my favorites is an abundance of sweet Texas corn. It’s very affordable, available, and my favorite: versatile! I was really excited to see a recipe in a magazine that utilized corn with pasta – something I for one hadn’t combined before. I made a few changes because … well, who doesn’t? We tweak and add and subtract based on our own needs. The end result was a fresh, flavorful dish that I will definitely be making again, soon!
Start by cooking pasta per directions/preference, then drain and set aside before moving on to shucking and cleaning silk from your fresh ears of corn. Turn the ears on end and slice those juicy kernels off, being careful to avoid cutting into the cob. The sharper the knife, the better – you want to slice nicely, not crush the little golden pods of mouthal happiness.
Dice red onion and thinly slice the garlic. Heat olive oil (I use a red-pepper flake infused one that I made, but you don’t have to. Also, I won’t share mine so … get your own oil.) in a large skillet over med-low heat, then add the onions and garlic. Stir frequently, because garlic is a JERK and will fry itself to a burned, disgusting crisp if you don’t keep an eye on it. It’s like that evil little cousin we had growing up, who would break our toys if we didn’t keep constant watch. Garlic will break your dinner. Saute until onion is tender and the whole thing makes you cry with happiness for the delicious smells. Just for fun, toss a teaspoon of ground white pepper on top and give it a stir. Nom.
Add the fresh corn to the hot skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until you just start to get these delightful scorch marks. Yum. Toss the corn mixture with your cooked pasta and stir to combine. At this point, you can go one of two ways. You can toss the ricotta right in with your big old lovely mixture and give it a stir – the heat from the pasta and vegetables will melt the ricotta into a creamy sort of sauce; or you can plate the pasta, and put a blob of ricotta right on top. Obviously option two makes for a better photo op … but option one is less work for your dinner eaters. Sprinkle thin sliced basil over the top, fresh cracked black pepper, sea salt to taste, and serve. So simple, so yum! I’d tell you what to do with the leftovers buuuuut … there were none! Enjoy!
Recipe:
6 ears fresh corn
2 lb shells, cooked and drained (or pasta of your preference)
1 med red onion, diced
8 cloves garlic, sliced thin (grated, minced, however you like to get it small)
30 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 c thin sliced fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp red pepper infused olive oil
1 tbsp white pepper
1. Cook and drain pasta while preparing other ingredients
2. Heat oil in med-low skillet and saute garlic and red onion until tender & fragrant
3. Slice fresh corn kernels from the cobs and add to the pan, with white pepper
4. Increase heat to med/med-high and cook corn, stirring constantly, until corn just starts blackening
5. Add corn mixture to cooked and drained pasta, stirring to combine.
6. Plate and add a large dollop of ricotta to each serving, then top with thin sliced basil, fresh pepper and sea salt to taste.
7. Stir gently to melt ricotta into pasta mixture – Enjoy!
This recipe was adapted from a recipe appearing in the June 2014 edition of Everyday With Rachael Ray.
If you liked this recipe, be sure to check out my yummy Roasted Sausage and Potatoes, and my Summer Marinade with Lemon and Ginger – perfect for grilling!
This looks great Dee, thanks so much for sharing! We’ll have to try it this weekend 🙂 Find Dee on Pinterest and Facebook too.
