Sweet, sweet summer

Relaxing, plus possibly the perfect summer pasta

I didn’t send a newsletter last month.

(Sorry, not sorry. I’ll bet you were doing other things in June too.)
I also didn’t write much.
I did travel, spend time with family, recharge my creative battery, let my story percolate, and enjoy some excellent beta reading for friends.

(Congrats, Becky O’Connor, on landing an agent! I’d like to think that it was my insightful comments that put your manuscript over the top. Never mind that the timing makes that claim impossible.)

I’m home again, and switching back into author mode. You’ll get the full monthly newsletter to which you’ve become accustomed from me in a couple of weeks. For the moment, though, I thought I’d share the recipe for a meal I was bragging shamelessly about mentioning yesterday in the chat section of an online writing session with my Women’s Fiction Writers Association colleagues.

(I do so love a good chat section. Don’t worry, it was after we were done focusing on our writing, while we were sharing our joys and concerns, as we do after each 90-minute power-writing session. Join us, we’re fun! And we get sh*t done.)

Without further ado, I present to you the best thing I’ve eaten all week:

(With the possible exception of an It’s-It chocolate-dipped mini ice cream sandwich. Oh, and blackberries and apricots from the farmers market. As I mentioned, it’s summer.)

A little bit BLT, a little bit Caprese salad, plus the super-sweet crunch of fresh corn kernels. Possibly the perfect summer pasta, if I do say so.

Protein and fiber-boosted noodles, cottage cheese instead of mozzarella in the topping (hence the quasi-Caprese in the name), and a good amount of fresh veggies make it feel light and healthy.

(Never mind that bacon. Shh…)

The prep comes together in the time it takes to boil the pasta water, because you’ve got other things to do in summer besides cook!

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. any type pasta (I used Barilla Protein Plus angel hair, broken in half)

• 8 oz. good quality bacon

• ½ c. chopped onion (green onions, red onion, yellow, leek— what have you)

• 2 t. chopped garlic

• 2 t. chopped Fresno chile or jalapeño pepper (or substitute 1 t. red pepper flakes)

• Fresh corn kernels cut from 4 ears of sweet corn

• ½ c. grated fresh Parmesan

• 5 oz. package fresh baby spinach

• 2 T. butter

• Salt and pepper to taste

For topping each serving:

• Cottage cheese (approx. ¼ c.)

• Chopped fresh tomato (approx. ¼ c.)

• Fresh basil, cut into ribbons (approx. 1 t.)

Directions:

1. Start a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.

2. Prep other ingredients: Strip corn from husks; slice kernels off ears (see tip); chop onion, garlic, chile, tomatoes, and basil; grate Parmesan.

3. Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp (5-7 min). Remove cooked bacon from pan and chop; reserve 2 T. bacon grease in pan. (I soak up the excess grease with a wad of paper towel held with tongs, but you do you.)

4. Sauté the onion in same pan until soft (3-4 min), then add garlic, hot pepper, and corn, and continue cooking 2-3 more minutes, just until corn is heated through.

5. Meanwhile, when the water comes to a boil, cook pasta according to package directions. When draining, reserve 1 c. cooking water.

6. Combine pasta, corn mixture, bacon, and grated Parmesan in skillet or pasta pot, whichever has more room.

7. Stir in fresh spinach, add butter, and heat a little while longer, until spinach wilts. Add reserved pasta water 1 T. at a time to loosen the mix, as desired. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Quasi-Caprese Topping: Allow each person to add cottage cheese, chopped tomatoes, and shredded basil to their own portion to taste.

Serves 4 generously.

Leftovers are fantastic; Be sure to add toppings after reheating pasta.

Tip for cutting kernels off corn cobs without making a giant mess:

Place a small bowl (plastic, to preserve your knife’s edge) upside down inside your largest bowl.

Rest the ear of corn upright on the small inner bowl, then slice downward.

The kernels will (mostly) land inside the larger bowl.

---

Hope you are enjoying summer with good food and good books.

I’ll be back soon with my usual nonsense.