Origin story time! The original version of this recipe appeared in Food & Wine Magazine last summer, introducing us to the concept of corn “milk” and launching our slight-ish obsession with the ingredient. To make the milk, you slice the kernels and scrape the pulp from the cob, blend them into a puree, then force the liquid through a fine strainer. We’ve already featured this mildly sweet liquid in our Whipped Corn Milk Ricotta and Corn Milk Ice Cream, which covers the appetizer and dessert categories. Here, we’re using it to make a dairy free “Carbonara” sauce, a concept too intriguing not to try, covering the entree category and giving us a lighter pasta dish that can be enjoyed during the warmer months without weighing you down. As you can see, the versatility of this ingredient, aside from its ease of preparation and wonderful flavor, make it well worth the obsession. Given that, you shouldn’t be surprised to find this wonder ingredient popping up in future posts.
One of the many lovely advantages of this recipe is that it comes together really quickly. In fact, the most time consuming part of the recipe is actually making the corn milk, but that can be done a day or two ahead and kept in the refrigerator. Thus, with a little planning, you can take full advantage of the “quick and easy” aspect of the recipe. Additionally, if you make the sauce in the same pot used to cook the pasta, you have one of our convenient and beloved One Pot Wonders, which is a double bonus.
The sauce requires no flour or roux to thicken it, as the natural starches in the corn milk do that job nicely on their own (it really is a wonder ingredient). Making the entire dish gluten free is a simple matter of using a good quality gf pasta. As we experiment with using corn milk to replace some or all of the dairy milk in various recipes, we’ll begin to feature more dishes geared toward the dairy free set, but we will always offer a gluten free option to go with it.
A few other adjustments to the original recipe were in order. It called for guanciale, which is a lovely cured pork jowl “bacon” that is a little hard to come by outside of a good Italian market. Not having time for a field trip to said market (and seriously, who has guanciale just lying around?!?), we swapped in regular old bacon to maintain those salty, smoky notes in the sauce—Simple, effective, and much more accessible.
Kyle also doubled the amount of garlic in the recipe (he really can’t help himself sometimes), and added a dash of red pepper flakes for a wonderful touch of heat. That didn’t stop me from “garnishing” the plate with a few dashes of hot sauce, because sometimes I just can’t help myself, either. Since the corn milk has a distinct, albeit highly favorable flavor to it, the lemon juice alone wasn’t able to impart the right level of acidity to the sauce. That was remedied by adding a teaspoon of white wine vinegar to the pot for that perfect touch of brightness to balance the flavor.
Littleneck clams were substituted for the lump crab meat called for in the Food & Wine version. There’s a shellfish (crustacean) allergy here, and as much as it is loved and missed it, it’s not worth looking like an extra from the Star Wars cantina scene. For reals. Fortunately, the clams are amazing and add visual interest to the plated dish, which is always a plus. You could also use mussels or scallops if either of those suit your tastes better, and if shellfish isn’t an issue for you, feel free to use crab or shrimp in the dish.
The clams are steamed in a little white wine and once they’re cooked, the sauce in built in the same pot. What you end up with is a tasty, simple pasta dish that you can eat with impunity on even the hottest days of the season without feeling like you’ve consumed a big bowl of rocks and heavy cream, as appetizing as that sounds. As always, have fun with it and enjoy!…
…And make sure you get a second helping in before it disappears. Seriously.
Inspired by Food & Wine.
- 7 ears of corn, shucked
- 1 pound spaghetti (traditional or gluten free)
- 2 slices of bacon, cut into ¼-inch dice
- 2 medium shallots, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ¾ cup crisp white wine
- 1 ½ pounds littleneck clams, cleaned and scrubbed
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- Dash of crushed red pepper flake
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
- On a work surface, cut the corn kernels off of the cobs; using the sharp side of the knife, scrape the pulp off the cobs. You should have 4 cups of kernels and pulp. Transfer the kernels and pulp to a blender and puree until smooth. Strain the puree through a fine sieve, pressing on the solids.
- In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking water, then drain the pasta.
- Wipe out the saucepan and return it to medium head. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered, about 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon from the pan and reserve.
- Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the white wine and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to boil, about 5 minutes.
- Add the clams and cook, covered, until clams open. Discard any unopened clams. Add the strained corn puree, 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, lemon juice and vinegar. Cook over moderate heat, tossing, until the sauce is thickened and creamy, 3 to 5 minutes; add more of the cooking water if necessary. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a dash of red pepper flake. Add the cooked spaghetti and stir to combine. Transfer to shallow bowls and garnish with chopped parsley and reserved bacon.
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