More Yummy-ness

Robin's summer recipe round up the other day reminded me of a recipe I got to taste about two years ago when she made it but hadn't tried it yet myself. It was so good I can't believe I forgot about it. Perfect for the summer.

Pasta with Fresh Corn Pesto!

It takes a little bit of prep time but it's totally worth it. Here's what you will need:

• 4 bacon slices, cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 6 large ears)
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced (I used two HUGE garlic cloves and it was great!)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used less because I don't love this kind of heat. I prefer the heat to come from garlic)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 ounces tagliatelle or fettuccine
• 3/4 cup coarsely torn fresh basil leaves, divided

Here are the directions:
Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, stirring often. All pasta sauce recipes should start with bacon. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet. Add corn, garlic, 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt, red pepper flakes, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to drippings in skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until corn is just tender but not brown, about 4 minutes.
Transfer 1 1/2 cups corn kernels to small bowl and reserve. Scrape remaining corn mixture into processor. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pine nuts. With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube and blend until pesto is almost smooth. I have a very small food processor so I did this in two batches and it was fine. Set pesto aside.
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid. Don't be like me and forget this part and pour out all the water. You can't get it back. I still used water to thin a little but the pasta water would have been better. Return pasta to pot. Add corn pesto, reserved corn kernels, and 1/2 cup basil leaves. Toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves and reserved bacon. Serve pasta, passing additional grated Parmesan alongside.

I will be eating this a few more times this week. Heat it up at work and watch people become jealous of your lunch as they smell the bacon and garlic. As with regular pesto, I think that it would be great to make a batch (or a double batch) of this sauce while corn is in season and then freeze it for later. Then I can use smaller portions of it at a time if I don't want tons of left overs.