Skip to main content

Sweet Corn Poached in Summer Tomato Sauce

After many summers of preparing fresh tomato sauce—and boiling thousands of ears of sweet corn in water—it was only when I was working on the recipes for this book that I had a brainstorm: perhaps I could use the enormous potful of crushed plum tomatoes perking away on the stove to cook up the fresh sweet corn we were having for lunch. . . . Why not?

Ingredients

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    I shucked the corn and removed all the “silk,” rinsed the ears, and dropped four of them in the pot. I covered the saucepan so it quickly returned to a gentle boil, and cooked the ears for about 8 minutes, until the kernels were tender.

    Step 2

    Dripping with sauce, the corn looked beautiful and tasted great—and no one needed butter. In addition, the sauce in the pot gained extra sweetness.

    Step 3

    Try this whenever you make this summer tomato sauce. It’s easy to cook a half-dozen ears of corn when the large batch of tomatoes is cooking for the first time. Or you can reheat a quart or more of finished sauce and poach a couple of ears in it at a time.

From Lidia's Family table by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright (c) 2004 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Published by Knopf. Lidia Bastianich hosts the hugely popular PBS show, "Lidia's Italian-American kitchen" and owns restaurants in New York City, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. Also the author of Lidia's Italian Table and Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen, she lives in Douglaston, New York. Jay Jacob's journalism has appeared in many national magazines. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Read More
Like miso-peanut hibachi chicken and spring orzotto.
The magic of this hibachi chicken recipe comes from a combination of miso and peanut butter and how it beautifully caramelizes when it hits the grill.
Keep this easy frittata recipe on hand for quick breakfasts, impressive brunches, and fridge clean-out meals.
Chicken breasts reach their full potential in this spicy, saucy stir-fry with blistered green beans.
Using two entire lemons—pith, skin, and all—cranks up the citrus flavor in this classic dessert.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Like carrot farro salad and chicken paella.
The secret to extra-fluffy stack? A splash of cold, bubbly seltzer.