Have you ever had a dish at a restaurant that you can’t stop thinking about? Recently I ate at Callicoon’s Black Walnut on Main Street and had one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. I’ve been eating there fairly often because life is too short not to eat amazing food. (I highly recommend their grilled Romano beans and sungold bucatini, although everything is superb!) The recent pasta I ate there featured sungold tomatoes, corn, and nduja (spreadable pork sausage). I made my own take on it at home, and it truly was one of the best home cooked dishes I’ve eaten all summer. The flavor profile was completely different and it clearly wasn’t as delicious, but the idea is still the same. Highlighting fresh produce at the peak of their season, with minimal high quality ingredients.

This dish features raw sweet corn and the coveted sungold tomatoes. I purchased both at our very own Callicoon Farmer’s market! 

I’ve fairly recently come to discover my love for sungold tomatoes. They are by far my favorite tomato, and if you have the opportunity and privilege to grow a garden, I highly recommend growing them. They’re golden-orange in color with a very sweet and fruity almost tropical flavor. 

Serves 4 

You will need:

2 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp butter

¼ cup fresh Parmesan cheese 

2 pints sungold tomatoes (halved)

2 ears fresh sweet corn cut off the cob (Heller’s farm is fantastic!)

1 onion diced 

4 cloves minced garlic

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Torn fresh basil 

1 lb thin pasta (spaghetti or bucatini preferred!)

Heat a Dutch oven over  medium heat and add in the olive oil and diced onion and sweat that down for about 5 minutes. Add in your garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes and cook for an additional 5 minutes, making sure it doesn’t become brown and bitter. Next add in your halved sungold tomatoes and increase the heat to medium high. Cook for an additional 8-10 minutes until the tomatoes are completely broken down. If they’re being stubborn, I smush them down with the back of a spoon. 

Turn off the heat and using an immersion blender or food processor blend up the tomato mixture. If using a blender, make sure the mixture is cooled or there is a way for the heat to escape. I’ve learned this the hard way.

 Cook your spaghetti in heavily salted water to al dente. You want the water the pasta is cooking in to taste like the ocean, since your pasta will absorb a lot of that water. 

Heat your tomato sauce over low heat and add in your cooked spaghetti, raw corn,  and torn basil and toss to coat.  Make sure you tear your basil with your hands, don’t chop it on a cutting board. So much of your basil’s flavor will be lost on the board and I find that tearing it keeps a lot more of its flavor. 

Turn off the heat and add in a few tabs of butter, the cheese, and several splashes of pasta water. The pasta water is going to add a glossiness to your pasta as well as emulsify it! I really hope you get a chance to try this recipe, and please let me know what you think!

Claire Burns is an accomplished cook who loves to try new recipes. While she does enjoy eating at restaurants, she also loves to whip up a good meal at home. Claire gets some of her cooking inspiration from her grandfather and grandmother, Fred and Shirley Stabbert as well as Great Grandma Nellie.