A recipe for creamy fettuccine with leeks, corn and arugula near the back of the June 2010 edition of Real Simple magazine could have been written by one of those corn-obsessed Korean foodies.
Koreans try to sneak corn in everything: pizza, potato salad and even ice cream. Nutritiondata.com reports that one cup of corn kernels provides 25 percent of the recommended daily allowance of iron. Is there a hidden anemia epidemic to explain the kernel corn craze?
So the cup of those ubiquitous sweet corn kernels already gave this recipe Korean moxie, as did replacing the arugula with sesame leaves.
Here’s my spin on the Real Simple recipe:
1 pound linguine (I use high-protein pasta by Dreamfields to reduce the glycemic level of this meal.)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 leeks (white and light green parts, thinly sliced)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup dry white wine (use drinkable wine, not cooking wine)
1 cup sesame leaves, julienned
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
salt and pepper to taste (I used 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper)
- Rinse the sliced leeks to make sure there’s no dirt between the layers.
- Cook pasta according to the directions on the box.
- Heat the olive oil in skillet on medium high heat.
- Add leeks, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and cook for approximately three to four minutes, stirring occasionally until they are tender.
- Add the corn and wine. Allow to simmer for two to three minutes until the corn is tender.
- Add the cream and stir in.
- At this point, add the pasta and season with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and stir to combine.
- Fold in the sesame leaves and sprinkle with the grated pecorino just before serving.