Orecchiette With Corn, Jalapeño, Feta and Basil
Published August 14, 2018
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 pound orecchiette
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
5 ears corn, shucked and kernels removed (about 3 ½ to 4 cups kernels)
Kosher salt
8 ounces crumbled feta cheese
½ cup torn basil leaves, plus more for serving
Flaky salt, for serving (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until it is just short of al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking water.
- Step 2
While pasta cooks, make the sauce: In a 12-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add jalapeño, and cook until softened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add corn, and cook until it begins to brown in spots, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt. Add ¼ cup of pasta water and bring to simmer and cook until reduced by half, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Step 3
Add pasta to skillet, tossing to coat with sauce. Add feta cheese and an additional ¼ cup of pasta water, tossing until pasta is slick and glossy with sauce. If needed, add in another ¼ cup pasta water. Stir in basil. Transfer to a large bowl and scatter with remaining basil. Season with flaky salt, if desired.
Private Notes
Comments
Please add food values per serving - calories, carbos, salt, protein. It makes a difference for those of us who consider these values when trying new recipes.
Added some sweet cherry tomatoes to help counterbalance the jalapeño kick.. divine.
SO good! Seriously, you want to make this: it's a celebration of sweet summer corn. But one big tip: Make half the amount of pasta. That's what we did, and the proportions were right-on. With double the amount — that is, what the recipe calls for — we wouldn't have been able to appreciate the corn/feta/jalapeño/herb mixture nearly as much. With that one change, it's a delight!
I have been making this for years, using fresh summer corn. The only change I make is using conchiglie instead of orecchiette, for the way the individual kernels take up refuge in the opening.
Delicious!! I added a thinly sliced zucchini that needed using up, and like others recommended used less pasta than called for. I let the corn cobs boil in the pasta water as I prepped everything to get a bit of a corn stock going. Will definitely make again and I love how it’s a riffable recipe that would go well with different veggies/cheeses/herbs!
It was good, but came out a bit dry. Next time I would try to create some kind of “sauce” maybe using more cheese or even Parmesan? I don’t know

