4 Reasons Why You'll Want to Put Corn

When you've reached the point of too much corn on the cob, don't panic—your corn habit can get even better. A summery, buttery bite of corn on the cob is near perfection, but after gorging on it for a few weeks, even succotash, well, sucks. But that doesn't mean you have to cross corn off of your list—you just need to find some unpexcted ways to use it. And that's where pasta comes in. Home cooks, lend me your ears (of corn)—I found four ways to pair your corn with noodles. 1. PASTA SALAD If there's one thing you see more of in summer than corn on the cob, it's probably pasta salad. Combining both in one bowl makes for a kind of side dish (or light lunch) that'll get you all the cookout invites. Pan-toast the kernels in a dry cast-iron skillet to give them some color and bring out their flavor, then combine it with cooked and cooled short pasta like gemelli or rotini. Warm Pasta Salad with Roasted Corn and Poblanos / Romulo Yanes GET THIS RECIPE WARM PASTA SALAD WITH ROASTED CORN AND POBLANOS GOURMET ADD TO RECIPES 2. CORN PESTO It’s time we released basil's chokehold on pesto and, instead, combined corn and garlic in a food processor with pine nuts and Parmesan to make a silky, pesto-ish sauce—no basil required. Toss the corn pesto with orecchiette, tagliatelle or any other shape that really grabs a sauce. Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto / Nigel Cox GET THIS RECIPE TAGLIATELLE WITH FRESH CORN PESTO IAN KNAUER | BON APPÉTIT ADD TO RECIPES 3. NO-COOK PASTA If you’re getting peak season corn, it’s probably sweet enough to be eating on its own. So do the dead-easiest thing: cut some kernels off of the raw cob, stir them into some warm pasta along with some of the pasta cooking water, and finish it with butter. Orecchiette with corn, basil & pine nuts / Photo by Danny Kim, food and prop styling by Ali Nardi GET THIS RECIPE ORECCHIETTE WITH CORN, BASIL, AND PINE NUTS JULIA TURSHEN | EPICURIOUS ADD TO RECIPES 4. PASTA IN (CORN) MILK The next time you cut the corn from the kernel, use the back of a chef’s knife to scrape the cob for the liquid (or “corn milk”). This liquid is packed with flavor, and adds a golden corn flavor and silky texture to a creamy carbonara sauce. Corn Carbonara / Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell GET THIS RECIPE FRESH CORN CARBONARA ANNA STOCKWELL | EPICURIOUS ADD TO RECIPES TAGS:PASTACORNBUTTERSUMMER