Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Roasted Red Pepper, and Corn
This quick and easy summery pasta recipe is an easy weeknight meal to make in 30 minutes or less. Using ripe tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and sweet corn, it’s perfect for the end of the summer harvest, but can truly be made year-round with some easy substitutions noted in the article. Without cheese, this recipe is vegan!
Pasta is unequivocally my favorite food. It can be dressed up or down in so many ways, for any season or occasion. There are endless variations on its shape, each providing a different base for sauce and accompaniments. For some reason, I always associate long and skinny pastas, such as the thick spaghetti I used here, with summer dinners. Maybe it’s because it reminds me of the pasta dishes my mom put together in the hot summer months, often making use of light olive-oil based sauces flavored with bundles of produce rather than heartier sauces that one would dress a short tube pasta with. Roasting red peppers at home is something I also learned from her, and I’ve included the technique she taught me at the end of this recipe.
This weeknight-friendly vegetarian pasta dish makes use of the abundant summer vegetables available throughout the summer, combining tangy cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, and charred roasted red peppers in a light sauce, coating each strand of pasta with just enough cotija cheese to bind it together…and maybe a bit more on top. Feel free to use another finely grated hard cheese in place of cotija, though do I encourage you to try it here! This Mexican cheese provides a really nice saltiness and stringy meltiness to the sauce that works beautifully with the corn, as we know from the ever-popular elote. If you skip the cheese or replace it, this dish becomes vegan.
Serving sizes and substitutions
I’ve provided the proportions for a very generous meal for two or a moderate amount for 3, so feel free to double and cook the whole pound of pasta to serve more or have leftovers.
If desired, you can substitute one 15-ounce can of corn for the two cobs of fresh sweet corn, and use jarred roasted red peppers. Stick with fresh cherry tomatoes, though—canned tomatoes carry a different flavor profile and will introduce too much liquid to the dish.
How to make vegetable-heavy pasta saucy and glossy
If you’ve made pasta with a ton of vegetables before, you know that the results can feel like, well, pasta, and then a bunch of vegetables. I’m not saying this isn’t delicious, but often these dishes are lacking the unifying glossy sauce element that makes pasta so appealing in the first place.
Without reaching for any additional olive oil or butter, it’s easy to make a smooth, flavorful sauce using a secret ingredient: the pasta cooking water. As pasta cooks, it releases starch from the surface, giving the water a whole new texture that can be used to your advantage. Once you combine the cooked pasta and vegetables, the whole dish will probably look a bit dry. Adding up to a cup of pasta water (more, if you’re doubling the serving size) and allowing it to simmer over low heat will do two beneficial things.
First, this additional liquid allows the pasta to finish cooking while combining with all the flavor you’ve built up while cooking the vegetables. The last bit of liquid absorbed into the pasta will be flavored with whatever else is in the dish, which boosts the overall deliciousness of a dish.
Second, as the liquid from the pasta water reduces with the liquid of the cooked vegetables, the starch from the pasta water acts as a binder. This helps everything thicken and cling together, creating a glossy sauce that coats every strand of pasta. It’s a simple technique that makes a world of difference when making pasta, so it’s one worth mastering.
Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Roasted Red Peppers, and Corn
Ingredients
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt well.
- Add corn to the boiling water and cook, uncovered, for 4 minutes. Remove with tongs and set aside, leaving the pot of water boiling.
- Cook pasta one minute less than instructions for al dente in the remaining boiling water; it will finish cooking in the sauce. During final few minutes of cooking, remove 1 cup of starchy pasta water with a clean measuring cup and set aside before draining pasta.
- While pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, and add olive oil. Once shimmering and hot, add garlic and stir frequently until lightly toasted and fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Add cherry tomato halves and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes have softened and juices are released, about 5 minutes. Add red pepper and stir. While red pepper is warming through, remove the corn from the cob with a sharp knife and add to pan. Stir to combine.
- Add cooked pasta to vegetables and stir over medium heat, adding additional pasta water, up to one cup, until a sauce forms. Sprinkle cotija cheese evenly over pasta while continuously stirring; the mixture will begin to emulsify and after about 1 minute of continual stirring you will have a thick sauce coating the pasta. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately with additional cheese and fresh chopped scallions on top.
Notes:
* To roast red peppers at home, place washed peppers directly on top of the grate of a gas stove burner over low flame. Turn occasionally, as each side becomes blistered black. When evenly roasted, place in a plastic bag or container and tie off or close to trap steam. Allow peppers to sit for 30 minutes, then rinse under cool water while removing blistered skins. Slice peppers open and remove seeds and rinse. Store in an airtight container alone for a few days or submerged completely in oil for up two weeks. You may also use jarred roasted red peppers.
