Serves 4
Ingredients
3 corn on the cobs
100g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Coarsely ground black pepper
Bunch of basil (about 30g), leaves picked
350g conchigliette
Method
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
Cut the corn kernels from the cobs and put the cobs into the pot of boiling water. Cook for five minutes; this gives what will be your pasta water extra flavour.
Meanwhile, set another large pot over a medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and half the butter, once the butter is foaming add the corn kernels and a pinch of salt. Fry for 3 minutes until just tender then finely grate in the garlic cloves. Add lots of coarsely ground black pepper; when you think you’ve ground in plenty, do a few more twists, you want this to be peppery! Fry for a minute or two until fragrant then remove from the heat.
Tip the pasta into the pot of boiling cobs and cook until just shy of al dente.
As the pasta cooks, if you would like a more creamy sauce, add a ladleful of the corny pasta water to the pot of fried kernels and blitz roughly a third of this mixture (either with a hand blender or scooped out into a small blender).
Once the pasta is just shy of al dente, discard the corn cobs and use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta to the fried kernels, along with any pasta water that piggy backs. Add the remaining butter and most of the basil (hold back on a some leaves for serving). Toss and shimmy the pot over a medium-high heat for a minute or two, adding generous splashes of pasta water to loosen.
Spoon into bowls and top with the reserved basil leaves and more black pepper.
