End-of-Summer Corn Pesto

In the span of one week, it has gone from almost unbearably hot and humid here in Minneapolis to shockingly breezy and brisk. Sleeping with windows open, ceiling fan whirring, covers thrown off has become windows closed, comforter tucked to chin. Ice coffee has become hot coffee; breakfast has gone from avocado mashed on toast with salt to hot cereal with maple syrup. Cotton dresses, made for lounging, have become fuzzy blazers, made for TA’ing. Thoughts of the beach have become thoughts of apple picking, and thoughts of cross country skiing beyond that. Change is afoot.

But maybe it is not quite so autumnal where you are, or maybe you at least have a little summer corn still making its way to the market. Because I can think of no better way to bid summer a fond farewell than with this corn pesto, a dish that simply tastes like summer.

I’ve been thinking about this pesto since I got my August Bon Appétit in the mail a month or more ago. Corn pesto! What an idea. It somehow has all the creaminess of carbonara with considerably less of the unhealthiness. Other than prepping the corn, there’s almost no serious laboring here, and you should be expert at taking corn off the cob at this point in the summer anyway. And other than the pine nuts, nothing here is costly; and, at that, you only need about $3 of pine nuts, if you can buy them from a bulk aisle and scoop just the amount you need.

While I do strongly encourage that you use pine nuts here to keep the corn flavor front and center (rather than the walnuts I’ve taken to using in basil pesto), the bacon is probably optional. A shocking thing to hear me say, I know. Bacon, optional? But really, here I think it might be overkill, at least as the garnish on top. Cooking the corn in bacon fat probably does add some flavah, but if you are vegetarian you shouldn’t miss out just because of that. Or vegan, for that matter, as I think this could still be quite delish without the Parmesan.

The point is, eat this. Eat this now, before it’s too late, and summer is again just a memory.

Fettuccine with Corn Pesto

About 4 main course servings (I found that this made way more pesto than needed for this amount of pasta; you could either make more pasta or tuck the excess pesto away in the fridge or freezer)

From Bon Appétit

Ingredients

- 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)

- 1 large garlic clove, minced

- 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

- 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

1. Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, stirring often. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet.
2. Add corn, garlic, 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt, 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.
3. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pine nuts. With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube and blend until pesto is almost smooth. Set pesto aside.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves and reserved bacon. Serve pasta, passing additional grated Parmesan alongside.