Pappardelle with Truffle Butter and Sweet Corn

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that this recipe was inspired by Ina Garten's recipe for Tagliarele with Truffle Butter from her cookbook Back to Basics and some Cacio e Pepe Papperdella with Sweet Peas I saw other people eating at Pier i Cafe in NYC last night.  That pasta last night just looked so luscious and delicious that the first thing that came to mind when I decided to recreate it was some sort of pasta dish with truffles.  Since truffles are far out of my price range we used a nice black truffle butter that I picked up at Zabars a few weeks ago.  I wanted to do a really lush, gorgeous pasta, but I didn't want to just have buttered pasta.  I really wanted to add something fresh and seasonal like the sweet peas that Pier i Cafe threw into their cacio e pepe, so I decided to throw some fresh sweet corn in there.  Unfortunately, the corn that we picked up from the CSA this week had seen better days so we had to resort to using frozen sweet corn kernels.  Oh well.  Even using the frozen corn, this dish was unbelievably luxurious and delicious.  The truffle butter made the pasta so earthy and decadent, and the corn and chives gave it a little summery freshness to lighten it all up.  This dish is one of my absolute favorite pasta dishes that we have ever cooked (and we have made a ton of pastas in our time), plus it was so easy to put together that I know we will cook it again and again.

Recipe after the jump!

Pappardelle with Truffle Butter and Sweet Corn

INGREDIENTS:

kosher salt

1/2 lb. papperdelle pasta

2 oz. D'Artagnan black truffle butter

1/2 cup creme fraiche

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup fresh corn kernels

2 tbsp chopped fresh chives

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package instructions.  Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water.

Meanwhile, melt butter and creme fraiche together in a 10 to 12-inch saute pan over medium heat.  Add corn kernels and stir to combine.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Cook until corn kernels are heated through and coated in butter mixture, about 2 minutes.  Add drained pasta to saute pan and toss with truffle butter mixture.  Add enough pasta cooking water to help thin out the sauce as necessary so that the truffle butter mixture can really coat the pasta. 

Serve pasta in bowls garnished with chives.