Mexican Street Corn
Elotes are Mexican street corn. Normally, eaten straight from the cob. Since that is a tad messy, this recipe is all of that flavor but less mess. Adding pasta so this can be considered more of a filling main dish. That and Susie is generally against corn. So pasta is one way of tricking her into eating more of it. If you are anything like me, then it is all sweet corn all summer long. Every night is a perfect night for sweet corn!
So to enhance that sweet corn flavor, I am taking a few hints from Mexico. I believe this is fairly representative of the original flavor. Although, I do stray on the cheese depending on what I have on hand. Sometimes it is not easy finding cotija cheese. I find that while not perfect, parmesan cheese is a fairly good substitute. There is the same creaminess and salt at play. However, the parmesan does melt away unlike cotija chunks.
Paprika Is A Gift To Sweet Corn
For some reason during my planning, there is a version that uses chile powder instead of paprika. This is a bad idea unless you love chili. Honestly, this just makes the entire dish overpowering chili flavor. You could barely taste the corn. This is sadness. To miss out on sweet corn flavors is essentially blasphemy for a midwesterner.
With good sense, I managed to find the perfect balance of flavors. Elotes pasta is good hot or cold as pasta salad. Just another item you can bring to wow others at those summer gatherings. Also you can use whatever shape of pasta you have on hand, I chose rigatoni. You can easily top this with a protein to make a more balanced meal. In summer, most of my sides are prepped and paired with whatever is on the grill that night.
Except on those extra lazy days where I go straight for the elotes pasta. Yeah, they are really satisfying. Fair warning, you can eat too much corn, and by making elotes pasta you may be sparking your own sweet corn addiction. I regret nothing, but you make your own choices.
Fill Your Craving With More Than Elotes Pasta:
- Spring Stuffed Shells
- Creamy Bacon And Mushroom Chicken
- Citrus Salmon Tacos
- London Broil Bulgogi Style
- 4 ears corn, corn cut off and cobs discarded
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 jalapeno diced
- 1 large garlic clove minced
- 8 oz rigatoni pasta
- 1 tsp paprika
- 3 Tbsp mayo
- 2 Tbsp butter
- juice of 1 lime and zest
- 2 Tbsp chopped chives
- 1/4 cup cotija or parmesan cheese
- In a large cast iron dutch oven or heavy bottom pot, heat to medium high.
- Add canola oil.
- Add corn in a single layer and cook stirring occasionally, 10-12 minutes until deeply toasted.
- Cook pasta in separate pot until al dente.
- Add jalapeno, garlic, and paprika to corn. Stir and set aside.
- Using a spider grab pasta and add to corn with remaining ingredients. Toss to coat.
- Serve warm or cold as a pasta salad.
