Turn a Can of Corn Into a Creamy Pasta Sauce
Canned corn is not as good and will never be as good as fresh produce, which luckily only starts in season, but I still keep a few cans just in case I have an emergency when I need either a corn casserole. , or quickly marinated. corn . It’s admittedly not fiction straight out of the can, but it lends itself very well to being treated with love. And when combined with onions, garlic, and a little pasta water, you can turn it into an amazingly luxurious creamy pasta sauce.
Based on the popularity and ubiquity of corn by-products, we know that it is a grain that contains a lot of starch and a lot of sugar, two ingredients that make a sweet and silky but kind of nutty sauce. To balance the sweetness and accentuate the corniness, you simply need to cook some onions in butter (or margarine or olive oil if you want a vegan sauce), sauté the corn to give it some character, and then mix it with water for a paste before stirring with favorite noodles. It coat the noodles aggressively – almost like canned Alfredo – which sounds a lot, but is actually quite comforting. (You can always add more water to the paste to thin it.)
Aside from butter, which is almost shelf stable, this paste is made entirely with shelf-safe ingredients, although you can add others that aren’t very stable, such as a pile of fresh parma, bacon and lard, or a handful of fresh herbs. … To make it you will need:
- 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil (I used salted butter, but unsalted butter is okay)
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 5 garlic cloves, minced and chopped
- 1 15-ounce can of whole grain corn, dried
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1/4 cup white wine or vermouth (optional)
- 10 ounces dried pasta
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the onions when they are nice and frothy. Cook until they are completely translucent and begin to brown around the edges, then add the garlic and cook until golden brown. Until then, bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. (The sauce uses a fair amount of water, so add about half the salt you would normally add.)
Once the garlic is golden brown, add the corn and salt and cook until the kernels are warm and the pan looks a little dry. Transfer the corn, onions, and garlic to a blender (or a tall container if you are using a hand blender) and set aside. Deglaze the pan with wine or vermouth, if present, scrape off any browned pieces and add to a blender.
Cook the pasta according to package directions until smooth, and set aside about two glasses of water for the pasta. (You can remove it from the pan while the pasta is still cooking.) Add half a glass of water to the blender, beat on high speed, then taste and add more water if the pasta is too thick. (Save leftover water to reheat later .) Stir the pasta sauce to coat with a layer, adding water if necessary, then serve with a pepper grinder, grated cheese and plenty of fresh herbs.