A Summer Treat

Summer is arguably the best time of year for cooking. There are so many wonderful fruits and vegetables in season that can add immeasurable flavors to even the simplest dish. On the flip-side, the summer heat tends to curb the appetite so we have to take all the wonderful ingredients available and make dishes that are light and refreshing. I'm spoiled with wonderful fruits for breakfast each morning but here in Florida I still haven't found a tasty tomato or a sweet ear of corn. I'm used to buying summer veggies from the side of the road back in Virginia, but here all we have are grocery stores.


If the heat is getting to you, try this wonderful summer dish from Gourmet magazine. It has all those things we're looking for -- light, fresh, simple, and made tastier with the freshest ingredients you can get.

Summer Garden Tortellini
adapted from Gourmet Aug 2007

8 oz dried tortellini (I used cheese filled but feel free to experiment)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 oz prosciutto, chopped
2 C frozen corn (use fresh if you can find it)
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 Roma tomatoes
1 big handful of chopped basil

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the tortellini as the package describes. In a skillet, sauté the garlic in the butter (substitute olive oil if you like) until fragrant then add the corn and prosciutto. I like my prosciutto a bit crunchy so cook until the corn is thawed or the ham crisps up -- whichever you like. Pour the corn mixture into a large bowl and add the chopped tomatoes. Drain the tortellini completely and return it back to the pan. A lot of recipes recommend reserving pasta water but I just don't like to do that. Instead I prefer to toss the pasta back into the original pot and douse it with some olive oil before I add it to the sauce or in this case the corn and tomatoes. Stir in the basil at the end and serve. This works well served hot or cold. The saltiness of the ham and the sweetness of the corn and tomatoes work so well together.

I'm really loving adding corn to different things lately. You'll see more of this later. Try this great summer pasta dish. Its a nice change from sauce laden pasta dishes we normally have in the Winter and Fall.