Tag Archives: corn

Fresh Pasta

Stringozzi with Roasted Poblanos, Corn, & Chorizo

The ingredients for this pasta sauce are hardly Italian, but the concept (clean, bright flavors) is very much Italian in spirit. As often happens in summer, there are so many vegetables to use up, and a pasta sauce is a great way to transform summer’s bounty into a memorable meal in relatively little time. Poblanos mellow when roasted, their smoky heat perfectly offset by corn’s sweetness and chorizo’s bold, porky taste. We love the Palacios brand of chorizo imported from Spain, and a little goes a very long way.

Stringozzi are a thick cousin of tagliatelle, made in Umbria and sauced with grated black truffles, fresh tomatoes, or whatever inspires the cook at the moment. To make stringozzi, we roll out our all-purpose semolina flour and egg pasta into sheets, stopping at the third setting on the pasta machine so the sheets are nice and thick, then cut the sheets into noodles with the linguine attachment; the result is a resilient, toothsome noodle very much like stringozzi. If you don’t have fresh pasta on hand, or don’t feel like making your own, opt for a chewy, ridged noodle like rigatoni or penne rigate instead.

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer

  • 2 poblano peppers, halved and seeded
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 ounce chorizo imported from Spain, casings removed, minced
  • 1 ear fresh corn, shucked, kernels scraped off
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 pound stringozzi or other pasta
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Make the sauce: Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the pepper halves, cut side down, on the foil. Slip under the broiler and broil 5 to 8 minutes, or just until starting to blacken; don’t overdo it or you will have a really tough time peeling off the skins, as poblanos are very thin-skinned. Wrap in the foil and set aside until cooled. Unwrap, slip off the skins, and cut into fine dice.

Place 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a deep, wide skillet large enough to accommodate the pasta later. Add the garlic, chorizo, corn, and poblanos. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring once in a while, until the corn is soft and the chorizo has rendered its fat and turned the sauce orange, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and all the pepper, and splash in 1/2 cup of water; cook another 3 minutes, or until the water has reduced by half. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of salt. Drop in the pasta and cook until al dente, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Add the pasta to the skillet. Saute over high heat for 1 minute, stirring in the Pecorino and thinning out the sauce as needed with some of the reserved pasta cooking water. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, adjust the seasoning, and serve hot.

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Appetizer

Corn & Scallion Fritters

Summer is corn season. We eat corn almost daily, usually just boiling it for 3 minutes, scraping it off the cob and savoring it plain, sprinkled with sea salt. But there are times I’ll hunger for corn soup or chowder, and times when a corn fritter beckons. Today was one of those days.

Almost anything is delicious in a fritter: boiled or raw vegetables; cooked grains; bits of savory meat; cheese and herbs… all benefit from a quick jump in a hot skillet with olive oil. But corn fritters are somehow even more addictive, perhaps because of corn’s natural juiciness and sweetness. Serve these fritters as a side to meat or fish, or with a lovely green salad as a starter. If you happen to be entertaining, they make perfect finger food as long as you make them no more than silver dollar-size.

Serves 2 as an appetizer

For the fritters:

  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves (optional)
  • 1 ear fresh corn, kernels scraped
  • 2 scallions, white and green parts, very thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

To serve:

  • 2 packed cups baby greens, washed and dried
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • juice of 1/4 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Place the egg in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in the flour, beating vigorously with a whisk until the mixture is perfectly smooth. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne, and thyme, and whisk again. Add the scraped corn kernels and scallions, and stir with a rubber spatula to incorporate. Set aside for no more than 10 minutes (if the batter rests too long, the corn may exude moisture and result in watery fritters).

To cook: Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over a medium-high flame for 2 minutes, or until quite hot but not smoking. Brush with half of the olive oil. Spoon in the batter, making 6 equal-sized fritters, spacing the fritters about 2 inches apart. Cook for 3 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Brush the tops with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and flip. Cook until the second side is also golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Remove to a plate.

To serve: While the fritters are cooking, toss the greens with the salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and then the olive oil. Toss to combine. Adjust the seasoning if needed. Pile onto 2 plates. Top with the fritters and serve at once, before the fritters cool down and the greens wilt.

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Main Course: Vegetarian

Ricotta-Quinoa Cakes with Summery Tomato-Corn Salsa

I don’t eat quinoa because it is healthy.   I eat it because I like it, and because it is versatile, and has a fun, popping texture. The fact that it is healthy is a plus. I would never eat something that was good for me if I didn’t truly enjoy it; I think most good food is healthy anyway, and becomes even better for you if you draw pleasure from eating it.

I usually start off any quinoa recipe by rinsing my quinoa thoroughly to get rid of the bitter saponins that coat it (I prefer the red for its nuttier taste, my husband the white for its lighter flavor) . Then I drain it, plop it in a saucepan with double the amount of water, throw in a  crushed garlic clove, a bay leaf, a sprinkle of salt, and a bit of freshly ground black pepper. When the water comes to a boil, I cover the pan and simmer the quinoa until the grains are swollen and all the water is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Then the quinoa can be eaten hot, instead of rice or potatoes or any other starch; cooled and transformed into a salad with bits of feta cheese, diced tomatoes, charred peppers, and olive oil; flavored with plenty of herbs and folded into lettuce leaves for a refreshing bite; or bound with a bit of egg as below and pan-fried into delectable little cakes, so good with a fresh salsa of summer corn and ripe tomatoes.

Since I especially love quinoa with peas (they add such a sweet note and vibrant color), I often add about 1 cup of thawed petite peas to the quinoa in the last 3 minutes of simmering, as I did for the recipe below. The recipe here yields enough quinoa for several dishes; you only need one-quarter of the total amount for the quinoa cakes, so experiment with the rest.

Try swapping these quinoa cakes for the meat patties in your burgers at your next barbecue. I think even the carnivores would enjoy them; my husband did!

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer

For the quinoa:

  • 1 cup red quinoa, rinsed several times and drained
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra if needed
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup thawed petite peas

For the cakes:

  • one-quarter of the cooked quinoa (see above)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup fresh whole-milk Ricotta
  • 1 teaspoon minced marjoram, mint, or sage (I prefer marjoram)
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa:

  • 1 ear fresh corn, shucked, silk removed
  • 1 ripe tomato, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To cook and serve:

  • 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Make the quinoa: Place the rinsed and drained quinoa, the water, bay leaf, garlic, salt, and pepper in a 1-quart pot. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to simmer, and cook 15 minutes, then add the peas and cover again. Cook another 3 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and keep covered for 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and adjust the salt if needed.

Transfer one-quarter of the cooked quinoa to a bowl. Reserve the rest for another use (see introductory notes for additional ideas).

Make the cakes: Add the egg, Ricotta, marjoram, salt, and pepper to the measured quinoa. Stir well.

Make the salsa: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Drop in the corn. Cook 3 minutes, then drain, cool, and cut the kernels off the cob. Toss with the tomato, salt, and pepper, and taste for seasoning; adjust as needed.

Cook the cakes: Warm a 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until hot but not smoking. Brush with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil.

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Divide the quinoa cake mixture into 4 equal parts and drop into the hot skillet, shaping it into 4 even pancakes. Cook 3 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom and starting to set on the top. Brush the tops with the remaining 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Place on a platter. Sprinkle with the salt. Serve hot, topped with the salsa.

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