Three Cheese Corn Cappelletti with Pancetta

So, I have this thing with corn. See, it’s my favourite thing to eat. Pretty much in the entire world. I would pass up a 6 layer chocolate cake for one cob of perfectly grilled, super sweet, summer corn (dripping with melted butter, and covered with salt and pepper, OF COURSE). So, please understand that I go out of my way to find new ways to incorporate corn into my diet. And please, don’t waste your breath telling me about how modified corn is, etc. I have very few vices, and I’m totally ok with keeping this one up for the rest of my life.

The second thing I have to tell you is, this dish, as I made it, is a hell of a lot of work. It really is. I mean, you’re going to see me making the pasta from scratch, the filling, a broth, a sauce… look, I’m already exhausted just telling you about what I’m going to tell you. Obviously we’re heading to uncharted territory here as far as this blog is concerned. This is why I have the ultimate hack for you – don’t make it.

30 Minutes to the Table version too!
I’ve got a life-hack version of the pasta in the recipe:
A pared back version with store bought pasta
on your plate in less than 30 minutes!

Ok, that sounds odd, this being a food blog and all. I mean, if you don’t want to go balls deep in corn and waste an entire day in the kitchen – don’t make the pasta – buy it. Go to your grocery store, buy a package of that super convenient cheese cappelletti, then go home and just make the sauce. Look how easy that was! I just saved you literal hours, and you still get to enjoy an awesome, cheesy, corny, and bacony pasta. Woo hoo! Your day just got a whole lot more awesome, I know.

First thing to do is make the pasta. Look at this beautiful shot. There’s all the eggs and yolks and specialty (here in Canada) tipo 00 flour. Which, by the way, can seem impossible to find. I picked mine up at Coppa’s, who took over some of the Highland Farm’s locations in Ontario. Most people in Canada just use all purpose flour, because that’s what we have. You make a well in the flour, add the eggs, salt, and a bit of olive oil, then slowly incorporate it with a fork until it’s a shaggy enough mess that you can get your hands in there and knead it. And knead it. And knead it. I swear, my wrists grew three sizes this day (<- obscure Dr Seuss “The Grinch” reference; that’s how you know I’m a Mom). If you don’t want to do it like this and have sore wrists for three days, but still want fresh pasta, check out my food processor fresh pasta here. Once this is done you let it rest on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, until you’re ready to use it.

The next thing to do is get the stock going. You toss all the bare corn cobs (you’ve cut the kernels off already in prep for the rest of the recipe), along with some water, onion, peppercorns, and a bay leaf, into the pot. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes and strain it out. That golden bowl up top is what you’re left with.

While your stock is simmering away you can make the filling. Saute some diced onion in some olive oil with a pinch of salt. Once translucent, add in a couple of cloves of minced garlic along with the corn kernels. Stir until the corn is nice and bright yellow, then take it off the heat and stir in your cheeses (an awesome mix of mozzarella, mascarpone, and parmesan). At this point you throw the mixture into your blender until it’s as smooth as possible, then your filling is ready to go.

Here’s the pureed filling, with salt and pepper added to taste.

Now we roll out our pasta. For cappelletti you want it nice and thin, like a ravioli. You should be able to see the outline of your hand through the sheets, like this.

You want to cut 3″ circles out of the dough, then put a teaspoon of filling in the center of each one. To shape these, use a spray bottle of water (your best friend when making pasta), and give the circles a spritz once the filling is on it. Fold one side over to the other to form a half circle. Press around the edges to seal, then bring the two pointy ends together, basically folding the flat part up around the filling in the shape of a hat, and pinch the two ends together to seal. It will be able to sit upright when done properly. I couldn’t find a good picture or video of this online quickly, so next time I’ll make one for you.

Here’s the finished cappelletti! This was my first time making this kind of pasta, and that’s how gorgeous they turned out, so I promise it’s not nearly as hard are you think it will be! When you finish shaping the cappelletti you’ve got to put them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet that’s been dusted with flour, and don’t let them touch because they’ll stick together.

Gratuitous bacon shot! Ok, ok, pancetta, but basically the same thing! All that’s left to do is make the sauce and boil the pasta, and this part’s so quick and easy I have no pictures of it, lol. Whoops! All you do is cook the pancetta until crisp, then remove from the pan and set aside for a minute. Add the butter, corn kernels, and stock over high heat and bring to a simmer. When the pasta is just about al dente (2 – 3 minutes in the pot of boiling water) you add it to the sauce, along with the reserved pancetta, and toss it a couple of times. The pasta should now be perfectly cooked, and the sauce slightly thickened (don’t look for super thick, this is a sauce that just kinda kisses the pasta). Add it to your plates, then top with a sprinkle of salt, some chives, a generous fresh squeeze of lemon juice, and some freshly shaved parmesan cheese.

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Three Cheese Corn Cappelletti with Pancetta

Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

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Ingredients

Pasta Dough (or buy store bought cheese cappelletti, see notes)

• 2 cups, well packed, 00 flour (sub all purpose flour if you can't find 00)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1½ tsp extra virgin olive oil

Corn Stock

• 3 cobs of corn (left over from the filling)
• ½ medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 6 whole black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups water

Filling (or buy store bought cheese cappelletti, see notes)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 cups corn kernels (from three large ears of corn)
• ½ cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese,
• 2/3 cup mascarpone cheese
• ½ grated parmesan cheese
• kosher salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Sauce to Finish

• 250g of pancetta, in ¼"-½" cubes
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1 cup corn kernels (1 large cob of corn)
• 1 cup corn stock (if using store bought pasta, you can just use pasta cooking water here, and add a second cup of corn kernels)
• 2 tbsp minced fresh chives
• fleur de sel, or kosher salt, to taste
• freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste (go heavy!)
• freshly shaved parmesan cheese to top

Instructions

Pasta Dough

1. Put your flour on the counter and shape into a mound. Make a large well in the center, and add your eggs, egg yolks, salt, and olive oil to it.
2. Use a fork to whisk the eggs together without disturbing the sides, then slowly start incorporating the flour into the mixture.
3. When the dough starts to become somewhat paste like, start stirring in the flour from the bottom. When it starts to move as a solid mass of dough, use your hands to start folding and forming the dough. Use a spritz bottle with water to keep the dough wet. This is a dry dough, so you need that water to help you get any remaining loose flour to stick.
4. Once it's a solid, stiff mass, it's time to start kneading the dough. You need to do this for at least ten minutes, or up to fifteen (it's basically impossible to over knead pasta dough). The finished dough will feel firm with a little bounce, and have a soft texture, kinda like playdough.
5. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap, and let rest for at least 30 minutes, or up to 6 hours on your counter (up to 48 hours in the fridge).

Corn Stock

1. Place all the ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 45 minutes. Strain, and set aside for later. You can keep this in the fridge for up to three days.

Filling

1. Place the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. When starting to shimmer, add the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent. About ten minutes.
2. Add the garlic and corn, stirring constantly, and cook until the corn is bright yellow and soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheeses until melted.
4. Immediately add the mixture to a blender and puree until very smooth. Stir in some salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until completely cooled before filling the pasta.

Building the pasta

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour.
2. Roll out your pasta sheets until they are thin enough that you can see the outline of your hand through it.
3. Cut out 3" circles, and place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each circle.
4. Use a spray bottle of water to spritz the circles, then fold in half over the filling to form half circles. Press firmly around the edge to seal, then hold upright and bring the two pointed edges together at the front and press together. The shape looks a bit like a hat, and will stand upright.
5. Place the pasta on the floured baking sheets until ready to cook. Don't let them touch each other as they'll stick.

Sauce and Finishing

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. In a large saute pan, cook your pancetta until crisp then remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe out the pan.
3. Add the butter, corn kernels, and stock into the saute pan. Bring to a simmer, and swirl or whisk constantly to create an emulsion.
4. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until almost al dente, 2 - 3 minutes.
5. Add the (almost completely) cooked pasta to the sauce mixture, along with the pancetta. Toss a few times, until the pasta is fully cooked and the sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon (this is a very thin, light tasting sauce).
6. Add to your plates, then top with the chopped chives, a pinch of salt, a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and some freshly shaved parmesan cheese.

Notes

Two easy recipe hacks:

1 - If you want to make the pasta, but not by hand, use my food processor fresh egg pasta recipe

2 - If you want to make this really quickly:

Use store bought fresh cheese cappelletti.

Skip down in the recipe to the sauce, and replace the corn stock with pasta cooking water.

You can have an awesome tasting meal on the table in less than 30 minutes this way!

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