Summer Corn Pasta + Best Day Rosé: A Perfect Summer Wine Pairing

This Sum­mer Corn Pas­ta is creamy and light, with fresh corn doing most of the work. We’ve giv­en the recipe our own lit­tle Cal­i­for­nia twist with fresh lemon zest and zuc­chi­ni, added just before serv­ing to bright­en the rich­ness of the pas­ta and bring out the fresh­ness of the corn.

And in our opin­ion, there’s one par­tic­u­lar­ly great gar­nish for this dish: A bot­tle of Thibido Best Day Rosé 2025.

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pasta
• Extra-vir­gin olive oil
• 6 slices smoky bacon, chopped
• 6 ears fresh corn, shucked
• 3 shal­lots, fine­ly chopped
• 1 small red bell pep­per, seed­ed and chopped
• 1 zuc­chi­ni, thin­ly sliced
• Salt and fresh­ly ground black pepper
• 1 cup half-and-half or cream
• ¹⁄₂ cup chick­en stock or dry white wine
• 2 table­spoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• A few dash­es of hot sauce or a pinch or two of cayenne
• 1 cup grat­ed Parmi­giano-Reg­giano or Pecori­no Romano
• ¹⁄₂ cup torn fresh basil
• Zest of 1 lemon

Direc­tions:

Bring a large pot of well-salt­ed water to a boil and cook the pas­ta until al dente-we rec­om­mend ETTO Pas­ta from Paso Robles.

Mean­while, driz­zle a large skil­let with olive oil, cook the bacon over medi­um heat until crisp. Cut the ker­nels from the corn, reserv­ing any corn liquid.

Add about three-quar­ters of the corn to the skil­let along with the shal­lots, sliced zuchin­ni and red pep­per. Sea­son with salt and pep­per and cook for 5 – 6 min­utes, until tender.

Purée the remain­ing corn with the half-and-half or cream until smooth.

Add the chick­en stock or white wine to the skil­let and sim­mer briefly. Stir in the thyme and corn purée and cook for anoth­er 3 – 4 min­utes, until the sauce begins to thick­en. Add hot sauce or cayenne to taste.

Drain the pas­ta and toss with the corn sauce and about half of the grat­ed cheese. Fin­ish with fresh basil, lemon zest, fresh­ly ground black pep­per and addi­tion­al cheese at the table.

Then pour that glass of rosé.