Friday, August 20, 2010

Corn Pesto with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Basil

As a Nebraskan, I obviously try to work corn into every feasible meal. When I saw this recipe for corn pesto, I knew my mission was to veganize it. Here are my (vegan) results:

Corn Pesto with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Basil
4 cups fresh corn (I used frozen because I already had a bag and it was fine)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup almonds
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup basil leaves, torn or chopped, you call it
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (I had a lot left over, you use however many works)
Pasta (I used penne, you make the call)

Place the corn, garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes in a skillet and cook over medium-high heat until the corn is tender. You aren't browning the stuff, just warming it up. Reserve about a cup of the mixture and pour the rest into your handy food processor. Add in the nutritional yeast and the almonds. Blend the heck out of it while pouring in your olive oil. I like a chunkier pesto, so I used my olive oil fairly sparingly, but if you like a smoother pesto, more olive oil it is. There! You are done with the corn pesto!

I made my pesto in advance because I was bored, but you could easily prep your pasta while you make the pesto. While the pasta is cooking, I also rehydrated the tomatoes by placing them in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them. While the pasta is cooking, you will want to reserve some pasta water for later. When the pasta is done, drain it, and place it back in the pot with the pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and torn basil. Then stir, stir, stir! If you need to loosen things up, add in a bit of the reserved pasta water. Then eat.

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