This Spicy Corn Pasta is a creamy, comforting dinner that uses fresh, frozen, or canned corn to make a delicious quick sauce for your noodles. This sauce has it all! Sweet from the corn, spice from the red pepper flakes, and a good helping of cream to bring it all together to make the most fantastic sauce! Serve this with spaghetti, tagliatelle (or any pasta shape), a little side salad and you have dinner for the whole family. Or use it as a side dish for your grilled chicken or seared steak!
Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Add the salt and cook the pasta for 1 minute less than the packet suggests. (Set your timer)12 oz/340g pasta 2 tablespoon salt
Remove 2 cups of the pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta.
While the pasta water is coming to a boil, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.4 tablespoon butter
Add the corn and cook for 4-6 minutes until it has softened.2 ½ cups corn
Season with salt and pepper, then add in the crushed garlic, the red pepper flakes, Italian herbs, and the heavy cream.½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper 3 crushed garlic cloves ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes ¼ teaspoon Italian herbs 1 cup heavy cream
Bring to a simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat, until the sauce is thick. Reduce the heat to low until the pasta has finished cooking.
Add the drained pasta to the sauce along with ½ cup of the pasta cooking water.
Stir the pasta gently until it's coated in the sauce. Then add in the parmesan and more pasta cooking water if needed to make a luscious sauce.½ cup grated parmesan
Season to taste and serve.
Notes
Use any pasta you have available. We like spaghetti, but a chunky shape works well too.
You can use fresh, frozen, or canned corn for this recipe. If using frozen, there is no need to defrost it. And if using canned drain well first.
Add more red pepper flakes if you like it extra spicy. Or reduce it to ¼ teaspoon for a milder spice.
You can replace the heavy cream with half and half or milk, but the sauce won't be as rich. To thicken a sauce made with milk or half and half, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into 1 tablespoon of cold water and slowly whisk that into the milk/half and half.