I keep making and also tinkering with Melissa Clark's Creamy Corn Pasta with Basil and, spoiler alert, everyone is hotter in sunglasses, and everything is better grilled.
Ingredients:
16 ounces dry penne or if you can find it, radiatore or gigli, those shapes will grab lots of sauce
1 bunch scallions (about 8) or two medium sized shallots or a package of chives -- I've used all three and they all work very well
4 large ears corn, shucked, or 4 ears of grilled corn, lots of supermarkets sell ears of grilled corn in their prepared food sections, or 4 cups of frozen corn kernels
1 TBS neutral vegetable oil
2 TBS butter
2 TBS olive oil
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, more to taste
⅓ cup torn basil leaves, more for garnish -- I have literally no idea how much 1/3 of a cup of basil it, I buy basil and use all of it
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Fresh lemon juice, if you like
First, put the scallions (or shallots or chives), butter, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, basil, and red pepper flakes in the blender or food processor, blitz away until it's greenish-paste
Second, grill all four corn: I do this by very sparingly drizzling them in neutral vegetable oil, you really only need a very small amount, it's just to prevent sticking, and salt and pepper, and then grilling them for 6-7 minutes per side on high, about 500 degrees
Alternatively, if you are using frozen corn, sautee the corn in vegetable oil, salt, and pepper at a medium heat until it's tender
Third, if you are grilling corn, or if you have purchased grilled corn: Shave the kernels off of two corn and add them to the scallion-Parmesan-basil paste and blitz again so that corn kernels puree into the paste; shave the kernels off of the remaining two corn and set aside
Alternatively, add half of the sauteed corn to to the scallion-Parmesan-basil paste and blitz again so that corn kernels puree into the paste; set the remaining half of the corn aside
Fourth, Make pasta per the instructions -- usually there is a range of time suggested, cook to the
lower end of the range
Fifth, while the pasta is cooking, scrap the scallion-Parmesan-basil-corn paste into the bottom of your serving bowl
Sixth, when the pasta is done: Drain it, but don't rinse it and don't shake excess water off too much
Seventh, pour the hot, un-rinsed pasta into the serving bowl on top of the scallion-Parmesan-basil-corn paste and toss it together -- what will happen is the heat of the pasta just out of the water will cook the scallions, shallots, or chives just enough to take the raw onion flavor away and it will melt scallion-Parmesan-basil-corn paste just enough to turn it into a great sauce, once the sauce has started to coat the pasta, add the remaining corn kernels and toss
Eight, salt and pepper to taste, garnish with extra basil leaves, Parmesan, and lemon juice
It is also really good tossed with a bag of baby arugula or with 8-12 ounces of snap peas
Serves eight.