Creamy Corn Pasta with Seared Mushrooms and Chives

Pasta tossed in a creamy corn purée and topped with a blend of seared mushrooms and chives. You can make this purée based sauce ahead of time to make things as easy as possible!

Print Recipe

Total Time 1

Course Main Course, Sauce

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings people (or 2 people with leftovers for tomorrow!)

Equipment

Sieve
Blender

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sweet corn kernels cut off the cob - if using frozen, defrost and strain excess water out
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 tsp Diamond kosher salt if using sea salt or another brand of kosher salt, a pinch is fine
2-3 tbsp olive oil for pan
4 oz. shiitake mushrooms
4 oz. maitake mushrooms
8 oz. king trumpet mushrooms sliced vertically into strips and scored (if you cannot find king trumpet mushrooms, just use 8 oz. of both shiitake and maitake mushrooms)
1 lb. campanelle or another pasta of your choice (see suggestions in the blog post)
1-2 tbsp Kosher salt for seasoning pasta water
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan plus more to taste, if needed
1 bunch chives finely chopped

Instructions

For the sauce (make ahead, or right before making the pasta):

Heat a large pot or sloped edge skillet over low heat. Add the heavy cream and the sweet corn kernels. Season with 1/4 tsp of Diamond kosher salt (or a pinch of any other kind of salt.) Allow the corn to steep for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid any bubbles.
Pour this heavy cream corn mixture into a blender and blend on high until smooth.
Place a sieve (fine mesh strainer) on top of a large bowl and strain any chunks out of.the corn mixture. After straining, you should have a smooth corn purée without lumps! If storing, place into an air tight container and store for up to 2 days in the fridge.

For the pasta dish:

Fill a large stock pot 3/4 the way with water. Season with kosher salt according to the pasta directions (typically 1-2 tbsp) and bring it to a boil over high heat.
In the meantime, cook the mushrooms. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Season with olive oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add the shiitake and maitake mushrooms in a single layer onto the pan. Season with a pinch of kosher salt. Let them cook undisturbed, about 3 minutes, until golden brown on one side. Flip, then reduce the heat to medium. Let the other side cook for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown. Keep an eye on them to prevent burning. Remove them from the pan once they are a deep golden brown.
If using king trumpet mushrooms, season the pan with a little more olive oil and adjust the heat back to medium high. Place the king trumpet mushrooms into the pan in a single layer and season with a pinch of salt. Sear, undisturbed, for 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Flip, then sear until golden brown on the other side. Remove from the pan and turn off the heat. Leave all of the golden brown bits in the pan!
Return to the boiling stock pot of water. Cook the pasta until al dente (according to box instructions,) or 1-2 minutes before al dente if you like your pasta on the firmer side.
Once the pasta is done, remove 1/3 cup of pasta water from the stock pot and use it to deglaze the golden brown bits off of the skillet. Add the corn purée to the skillet with the pasta water and stir with a rubber spatula or spoon until a sauce is combined. Transfer the pasta over to the sauce and toss until fully coated. Grate Parmesan cheese on top then toss the pasta again.
Plate the pasta and top with mushrooms and chopped chives. Enjoy!

Keyword chives, heavy cream, maitake mushrooms, Parmesan, shiitake mushrooms, sweet corn