Conchiglie Pasta with Corn, Bacon & Parmesan

Revisiting a recipe for a delicious and easy weekday supper by Josette I found about a year ago @thebrookcook. We have made it several times since and everybody here loves it.

This time I stayed closer to the original recipe using 2 ears of fresh corn, spring onions, and basil but swapped the orecchiette for small shell shaped conchiglie pastas. The bacon bits and corn kernels tend to get stuck in the pasta shells and therefore according to the kids create a “surprise pasta” with every bite. To limit any further surprises for them, we favour a good grind of black pepper over using the dried red pepper flakes. 😉

The recipe

250g / 8oz dried conchiglie pasta
250g / 8oz smoked bacon, cubed or in lardons
2 whole ears of corn, shucked and kernels cut off
3 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
125g / 4oz parmesan cheese, grated
fresh basil leaves, about a hand full

Cook the pasta according to package directions, until al dente. Reserve about 60ml/ ¼ cup of pasta cooking water and drain.
In the meantime, put a non stick frying pan on medium-high heat and fry the bacon until browned and crispy, then use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon bits to paper towels to drain.
Reduce the heat to medium, reserve 2 tablespoons bacon fat in the frying pan and bake the corn kernels for about 3 minutes (you still want some crunch) and add the bulk of the spring onions for the last minute to slightly soften them (reserving some for presentation purposes)
Add the drained pasta and the cooking liquid and half of the parmesan cheese to the pan and combine. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Finish with the bacon bits, remaining parmesan, spring onion and fresh basil and serve immediately.