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Skillet-Burst Tomato & Corn Pasta

Skillet-Burst Tomato & Corn Pasta

Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato & Corn Pasta

This late summer quick and easy pasta dish needs no introduction – corn, tomatoes, and summer squash? Why, hello friends! Welcome!! In a word – YUM! I found myself with a zucchini/tomato bounty post farmer’s market and wanted to whip up something that screams, “I see you Indian summer and I beg you to stay.”

There’s always so much to do this time of year, so why waste time getting dinner on the table? I say that it takes 25 minutes in the notes below, but that is really for the non-multi-tasker. If you get that water boiling first, start your sauté, drop the pasta, and add the veggies to the tomatoes, all while sipping a nice glass of vino, you will be done in far less time. Or at least you won’t notice. This dish is inspired by those that want no fuss, yet full flavor. Skillet-burst tomato & corn pasta has got your back. 

Picking the Produce

Was your sweet corn as amazing as mine this summer? Dutch Love, Silver Queen, Peaches & Cream! Yes, please!! I am partial to the white corn, but the key to me is tiny kernels, sweet enough and oh-so-tender that you can eat it raw.

But corn shopping can get competitive where I come from. It might not be at the market by 8:15, because they are still picking, and by 9:15 you might be disappointed. A total shut out. Thanks to Ham Family Farm and my really pointy elbows, I was corn-endowed all season. Do you remember Everything But the Farmer Farmer’s Market Salad? Same joint. That is a salad that is also epic this time of year. And as long as you are buying tomatoes, buy extra and put up a batch of oven-dried tomatoes. You will thank me all winter. 

Corn and Tomatoes

Skillet-Burst Tomato & Corn Pasta

To get started, drop the cherry and grape tomatoes – I love heirlooms for their gorgeous hues – into a sauté pan with garlic. Whirl the pan to coat the tomatoes with the EVOO and sizzle til they start to char and burst. Add the summer squash and cook until caramelized.

Thyme-Scented Veggie Saute

Toss in some corn, arugula, and seasonings, then add the al dente-cooked pasta and Parmesan. I am using rigatoni here, but any short-cut shape will do. Divide among bowls, top with hand-torn fresh Mozzarella and fresh basil. As always, check the seasoning. I like to use a finishing salt like Maldon, and of course some fresh pepper or hot pepper flakes. 

Adding Pasta to the Veggie Saute

Print
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Close up of Skillet Burst Tomatoes Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella in a black bowl with opal basil

Skillet Burst Tomato & Corn Pasta


  • Author: Katy Keck
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6

Description

This late summer quick and easy skillet-burst tomato & corn pasta dish needs no introduction. Corn? Tomatoes? Summer squash? Why, hello friends! Welcome!! This dish highlights the bounty of late summer produce. Tumble onto a bed of pasta, shred some fresh mozzarella, garnish with basil, and you have yourself a feast. 


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 4 cups heirloom cherry tomatoes, about 1 1/2 pounds
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • Pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds summer squash, about 8 extra small, trimmed and sliced (if using larger squash, cut into half-moons)
  • 1-pound rigatoni, or another short-cut pasta
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 ears of fresh corn, cut from the cob
  • 1 cup thinly sliced arugula
  • Red pepper flakes to taste
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • 2 balls fresh Mozzarella
  • 2 Tablespoons thinly sliced basil (chiffonade)
  • Finish with Maldon sea salt or other flaky finishing salt

Instructions

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan. Add garlic, tomatoes and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat the tomatoes, smashing garlic further. After 6 minutes, add the summer squash, stirring occasionally. Cook for an additional 5 or 6 minutes until the summer squash start to brown and caramelize.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to the package instructions, about 12 minutes.

Turn the heat down to low on the sauté pan, and stir in butter, corn, arugula and season with red pepper flakes. Cook for three minutes, scrapping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Remove the thyme.

Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.  Add the pasta to the vegetable mixture and add the Parmesan. Stir to combine, adding pasta water to thin, if desired.

Divide among six bowls and top each with 1/3 of a ball of fresh Mozzarella, torn by hand.

Garnish with basil and finish with flaky sea salt, adding more red pepper flakes if desired.

Notes

Use a bit of the pasta water, if you prefer a more saucy pasta and feel free to hit it with more butter. What could be bad?

Not going to lie – I wouldn’t be mad if you threw a Tablespoon or two of pesto on this. I did however create this combo of ingredients to let stellar tomatoes, sweetest corn and gorgeous squash be the rock stars. The more things you add, the less they are the standouts. This pasta mimics a fresh ear of corn slathered with butter. You be the master of your destiny!

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Pasta
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Italian, American

Keywords: Tomato, Corn, Pasta

Skillet Burst Tomatoes Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella

To source the Maldon salt and see more of my must-have kitchen tools, visit my shop. (affiliate links)

© Copyright: KatyKeck.com 2018. All rights reserved.

 

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Salad Days of Summer: Farm Fresh Summer Squash & Arugula Salad

Salad Days of Summer: Farm Fresh Summer Squash & Arugula Salad

overhead shot of a white plate filled with Summer Squash Salad, edamame fritters and spicy grilled shrimp

How is it exactly that “Salad Days” has gone from meaning green and naïve (Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra) to the more current American connotation of being at one’s heyday or pinnacle?  So American, right?  Wait long enough and it can mean whatever you want.  And what I want is green – as in green salad with green (and yellow) summer squash.  It’s reparation for making you go to that 425o kitchen last week, chasing a cherry pie.  This one is perfect for these oppressive muggy days. You won’t have to turn on a thing.

I have to admit, I never really thought about raw squash as a tasty treat, finding it a bit pithy and bland. However a couple summers ago I was on a media tour for a client and met a journalist at a farm to table restaurant in NYC where I promptly fell in love with a version of this salad.  The trick is to thinly slice the squash – as paper thin as possible.  I like using a mandoline and particularly like the Matfer Mandoline.

Thinly slicing squash on a mandoline

I once styled a cooking segment on the Today Show for the best chef in the Army, and he turned me on to this fine piece of equipment. I have had it for 15+ years and it is still in great shape.  It’s got good safety features, so it’s not scary like some mandolines, and it doesn’t pit or corrode like the one I got in France a zillion years ago and need to toss.   Chef arrived on some kind of Army transport so he didn’t have to worry about blades at TSA.  However his most important travel companion was an 8 1/2 x 11” flat piece of striped genoise sponge cake that was created by piping razor thin lines of alternating chocolate and vanilla batter.  He used it to line a tall glass trifle bowl for an elegant presentation.  And he carried it in a manila file folder.  Filed under P for pastry?  I was pretty much speechless. Given the turn of world events, I often wonder if our military still carry pastry in their file folders.

After first tasting that salad in NYC, I have tweaked it pretty much every time I make it and this is how it rolls this summer.  A dear friend recently delivered a spice jar filled with a pepper blend which I found I couldn’t live without. I burned through that jar in short order and have now made my own.  Mine seems a lot darker than hers so I suspect mine has more black pepper.  She even recommends adding green peppercorns to the mix, but so far I have not tried that.   I love the KitchenAid coffee grinder to grind all my spices  – and now they have an even better model that comes with an additional bowl fitted with a blade optimized for spices, in addition to the primary bowl specifically tooled for coffee – two gadgets in one – KitchenAid Blade Coffee and Spice Grinder Combo.

Pepper, Cardamom & Coriander

Zesty Pepper Blend

  • 1 cup ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup cardamom seeds
  • 1/2 cup coriander seeds

Grind each seed separately in a spice grinder or mini chopper.  Mix all spices together and store in an airtight container.

Summer squash with spice blend mixed with arugula and topped with manchego

Summer Squash and Arugula Salad

  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 yellow squash
  • 3 cups arugula
  • ¼ pound sheep’s milk cheese, such as Ewephoria, cut in shards or with a cheese planer
  • Seasoning: flaky sea salt like Maldon Sea Salt Flakes and zesty pepper blend
  • Dressing: equal parts fresh lemon juice and EVOO, whisked together

Trim the zucchini and yellow squash and slice thinly by hand or using a mandoline.

Arrange the summer squash and arugula on four salad plates. Grate the sheep’s milk cheese on top and season with salt and zesty pepper blend.

Drizzle with lemon vinaigrette.

Serves  4.

Summer Salad with Grilled Shrimp on a square white plate

This post contains affiliate links.  For more of my must-have faves, check out my shop.

© Copyright: KatyKeck.com 2016. All rights reserved.

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