I wasn’t going to share this recipe with you guys until later this week (or even this weekend), but I posted a picture of this on Instagram the night we had this for dinner, and my friend Christy asked me today when I was going to put it on my blog… so here it is, a few days early.
There is never a shortage of corn in our house. In the winter we have bags of frozen corn in our freezer, but then during the summer months, it’s all about taking advantage of fresh sweet corn on the cob.
When I saw this recipe, I just knew I had to make it. Not only do we like sweet corn, we also loooooove pasta. Anything that involves pasta is 99% of the time guaranteed a thumbs-up. I sure wasn’t disappointed, because this pasta was a huge hit at the dinner table a few nights ago!
The “roasted” sweet corn that had a nice char on the outside. The spicy kick from Chipotle peppers. The creaminess of the sauce. The pasta cooked just al dente all played an important part in making this a quick summery dinner. I like my pasta sauce a little bit on the runny side, so if you’re like me, add a little bit more Greek yogurt and pasta water.
You place the corn cobs into a pot of boiling water to get the cooking process started (promptly remove from heat and cover as soon as you add the corn to the water). Although this isn’t a required step, I do recommend it! It makes your job a lot easier later, I promise.
We chose to use bucatini pasta rather than fettuccine. The reason behind it is simple: the straw-like noodles will be able to “trap” some of that yummy creamy sauce in it, so every bite you take, you get pasta with a burst of spicy sauce. Whoever thought of putting a hole through spaghetti is a genius.
Of course, this can easily be tweaked into a kid-friendly dish by eliminating the peppers. And if you can’t find bucatini noodles, use whatever you can find – fettuccine, thin spaghetti, or regular spaghetti noodles would all work just fine.
- 4 ears of fresh sweet corn
- 1 lb bucatini noodles
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup fat-free half and half
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
- Fill a large pot with water. Bring to a boil. Place the sweet corn in the pot, cover, and remove from heat. Let the ears of corn "cook" in the hot water for a few minutes. Remove from the water and let cool. Reserve 3/4 cup of the water. Once cooled, cut the corn kernels off the ears.
- Place the corn kernels in a large skillet without any butter or oil in a single layer (the best you can). Resist the urge to stir them. Let them sit for a few minutes, Stir them around, and let them sit some more until they start getting roast-y looking. Turn off heat, transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, while reserving a cup of pasta water for later.
- In a large wok (or skillet), melt the butter over medium-low heat, then add the garlic. Stir, making sure you don't burn the garlic. Add the flour and stir some more.
- Combine the milk and half-and-half to the flour mixture, whisk until there are no more lumps. Then add in the Greek yogurt and minced chipotle pepper.
- Once everything is thoroughly combined, combine the corn kernels and pasta. Stir until everything is mixed well.
- Serves 4
- If you like your pasta sauce a little bit runnier, add in more Greek yogurt and reserved pasta water until it reaches your desired consistency.
So next time when you invite your vegetarian friends over, make this for them! It’s filling, delicious, and flavorful.
Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum
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