Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto
A summery pasta dish combining fresh corn pesto with crispy bacon and basil. Tagliatelle is tossed in a unique pesto made from fresh corn kernels, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese, then garnished with reserved corn, basil leaves, and crispy bacon pieces.
Ingredients
- •4 slices 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 clove large garlic clove, minced
- •1¼ teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- •¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- •½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
- •⅓ cup pine nuts, toasted
- •⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- •8 ounces tagliatelle or fettuccine
- •¾ cup coarsely torn fresh basil leaves
Cooking Instructions
- 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. 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. 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.
15 min
- 2.
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. 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.
12 min
- 3.
Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves and reserved bacon. Serve pasta, passing additional grated Parmesan alongside.
3 min