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Summer's best-of veggies like sweet corn, zucchini and peppers add sweetness to Rach's spicy pesto pasta.
"This dish highlights the sugars in the corn and zucchini from this time of year," Rach says.
Ingredients
For the pesto:
- Salt
- 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup packed fresh mint leaves
- ½ cup lightly toasted pistachios or pine nuts
- 2 large cloves garlic, grated or pasted
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- Juice of 1 small lime or lemon, or a splash of white wine vinegar
- ¾ cup grated Pecorino Romano
- ¾ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- About ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
For the pasta:
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 firm medium zucchini, halved, seeded and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 ears corn, husked and kernels removed
- 1 leek, split lengthwise, whites and light greens thinly sliced
- 2 medium hot or sweet peppers, thinly sliced into rings (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pound spaghetti or tagliatelle
Yield
Serves: 4
Preparation
For the pesto, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high. Prepare an ice bath. Add the basil to the boiling water and cook for 15 seconds. Using a spider or a slotted spoon, transfer the basil to the ice bath, then transfer to a kitchen towel to drain (optional if your basil is old/bitter).
In a food processor, pulse the basil, mint, nuts, garlic, jalapeño, crushed red pepper and lime juice until a thick paste forms. Add the cheeses; pulse a few times. With the machine running, slowly stream in the EVOO. Mix until the pesto is almost smooth.
For the pasta, bring the large pot of water back to a boil. Heat a large skillet over medium. Add the EVOO, one turn of the pan. Melt the butter into the oil. Add the zucchini, corn, leek and peppers, if using; season with salt and pepper. Cook until the leek softens, 5 to 6 minutes.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes less than the package directions. Scoop out about ¾ cup cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the pasta and the pesto to the skillet with the vegetables. Toss, adding pasta water as needed to coat the pasta in the pesto.