Italian Inspiration

Capellini Pasta with fresh Greens and Herbs, tossed with a sauce of roasted Corn, Garlic, Cheese, and Lemon juice

So my weekend back in NJ was nice and relaxing. Of course, I had to pick up some cooking supplies while back! New in my kitchen are a nice set of measuring spoons and dry measuring cups. Furthermore, I sprung for proper salt and pepper grinders! So, atop my Capellini dish tonight is freshly ground black peppercorns and nice large flakes of pink Himalayan salt (haven't you always wondered what it tasted like?) Well pink salt tastes pretty good, a slightly richer version of normal table salt, with some extra minerals in it and a cool hue.

Back in my non-air conditioned apartment, I knew I had to make something summery to match the 'sunny' weather outside. Sunny is putting it lightly. What I made was a very fresh tasting pasta dish -  the best part being the raw green leaves mixed with roasted corn and garlic. The dish starts out with an oven roasting of the garlic (in foil with olive oil), and entire ears of corn in the husk at 400°. For the corn to cook perfectly, leave it in for 25 minutes and try to ignore the smell of burning husk - your corn is safe and juicy inside!

For the base sauce, I followed a suggested recipe using a bit of blue cheese, a bunch of mascarpone, and a dab of butter mixed with a quarter cup of grated romano cheese. This was mixed together with the second part of the sauce, a lot of corn, prosciutto,  some olive oil, a head and a half of roasted garlic, and the juice and zest of two lemons. Finally, this was mixed in with capellini pasta, and tossed with herbs and greens. For the herbs, I used plenty fresh basil, parsley, and chives. The greens were from a mixed batch I bought: a bitter mix including chard, radiccio, arugula, red romaine, spinach, and other goodies.

All together, this was an awesome supper. The mix of creamy sauce with roasted corn and ground pepper contrasted nicely with the sharp bitter crunch of the herbs and greens. If there is one dish you try for fun this summer - make it this one:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Capellini-with-Fresh-Ricotta-Roasted-Garlic-Corn-and-Herbs-242499
(Instead of ricotta, use 2 T softened unsalted butter, 4 oz imported mascarpone, dollop of gorgonzola, 2-4 T of pasta cooking water. Add at the end: 5 slices of prosciutto, cut into thin slivers)