A lovely dinner dish that's just as delicious for lunch the next-day!
TIME: 1 hour prep, 3.5 hours total YIELD: 4 servings RECOMMENDED VARIETY: Music
INGREDIENTS
For the garlic confit:
12 cloves of garlic, peeled for the confit
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
For the roasted tomatoes:
2 pints cherry tomatoes, any color or variety
2 tablespoons garlic oil, from the garlic confit
1½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ ground black pepper
fresh thyme, rosemary, tarragon, and sage, finely chopped
For the grilled corn:
4 ears of yellow or white corn on the cob
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
For the pasta and assembly:
1 pound fettuccini, angel hair or spaghetti pasta, cooked in salted water
6 tablespoons garlic oil , from the garlic confit
½ cup parsley leaves, chopped
sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the garlic confit:
With a paring knife, puncture a tiny hole in each clove of garlic.
Place cloves in a small pot and cover with the olive oil. If the cloves aren't completely covered, add a splash more oil.
Bring to a boil, then turn down as low as the flame will go.
Simmer until a paring knife slides in easily (about 15 to 20 minutes).
Take off the heat and cool in the pan. Set aside.
Roast the tomatoes:
Preheat oven to 250ªF.
Prepare your sheet pan with a Silpat or parchment paper.
Place whole cherry tomatoes in a bowl and toss with garlic oil (just scoop it right out of your garlic confit pot), balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and herbs.
Place the coated tomatoes on your sheet pan, then into the preheated oven.
Check after 1½ hours to make sure the tomatoes are not burning.
Take tomatoes out of the oven when they've shriveled up and darkened in color. They should still be moist inside — this takes 2½ to 3 hours.
Remove tomatoes from the oven and smoosh them with the back of a wooden spoon (be careful, they may squirt you!), then cook them for another 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with more herbs, then set aside.
Grill the corn:
About 1 hour before the tomatoes should be finished roasting, preheat grill to medium heat.
Remove husks and silk from corn.
Brush each piece generously with olive oil.
Place corn directly on the grill and cook 10–15 minutes turning occasionally.
Remove from grill, coat with butter, and sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste then set aside.
Make the pasta and assemble:
About 30 minutes before the tomatoes should be finished roasting, place a large pot of water on high heat for cooking the pasta, and generously salt the water.
While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the corn.
Hold an ear of corn by the stem end with the opposite tip pressing down into the center of the bowl.
Using a very sharp knife (serrated works well), saw the knife back and forth, working your way from the stem end down towards the bowl, cutting the corn kernels away from the cob as you go. TIP: Try to remove just the kernel layer (almost like a corn kernel rug). You don’t want to cut out tough chunks of the cob, so make sure the knife moves straight down without digging too deep.
Rotate the ear and cut down again. Keep rotating and cutting off the kernels until the cob is bare.
Turn the knife around and milk the corn by rubbing the dull side of the knife up and down the cob all the way around.
Repeat all steps with the other ears of corn. Set aside.
Spoon 6 tablespoons garlic oil (from the cooled pot of garlic confit) into a medium-sized saucepan.
Squeeze all garlic cloves out of their skins into the oil in the pot.
With the back of a wooden spoon, break the cloves apart a bit into the olive oil.
Warm for 30 seconds on medium heat.
Add corn and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Turn heat down to low and add tomatoes.
Stir for one minute then taste and adjust salt as needed.
Pour mixture into a large serving bowl. Set aside.
When the water is boiling, slide your pasta in and cook until al dente.
Add drained pasta to the tomato/corn/garlic mixture. Toss.
Add a few more splashes of garlic oil then taste and add more salt or garlic oil as needed.
Garnish with parsley leaves and serve immediately.
Remember — this dish makes an excellent next-day lunch, cold right out of the fridge!