A New Corn Recipe

This is the last week for fresh, sweet corn at our local farm stand.

If I was going to try a Corn Pesto recipe that I had seen in Bon Appetit, now was the time. 

This recipe is only going to be a good as your corn.

Slice off the kernels from 6 ears of fresh corn.

The pesto is a rather, not-attractive, yellow paste.  Next time I'll measure corn by the cup and not by the ear.  No problem though, still delicious.

But when mixed with additional whole kernels of corn and topped with fresh basil, bacon and grated Parmesan cheese the presentation is colorful and very appealing. The salty bacon and pungent cheese compliment the sweet corn.  The flavor is further intensified by the aromatic basil. 
This recipe makes enough pesto for at least 1 pound of pasta.  The recipe calls for 8 ounces.  I froze half of the pesto or another meal.
Use the freshest, sweetest, tastiest corn you can find.  Don't even bother to make this with frozen corn.  Measure corn amount by the cup and not by ears of corn.
Here is the recipe.  You can view it at Epicurious.com here.  Be sure to read the reviews before you begin so you can tweak this for the best  results.
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

Preparation

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.

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.

Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves and reserved bacon. Serve pasta, passing additional grated Parmesan alongside.