
you've heard this old conversation starter before. what would eat for your last meal? as much as i enjoy a wide variety of foods and flavors this is still a very easy question to answer. it would be gino's spaghetti marinara...without a doubt, case closed.
when i was a little girl i seemed to go to new york with my parents quite a bit and when i was there with my dad he always took me to gino. it was one of those old-school new york restaurants across the street from the big bloomingdales uptown. it was the type of italian joint where most patrons were regulars and the waiters were italian....at least, new york italians. you could've imagined a mafia scene being filmed at their corner table beneath their zebra wallpaper.
the first time my dad took me there he told me i had to get the spaghetti marinara.....it wasn't a choice. i was irritated, i remember wanting a steak...i didn't like pasta that much. the smallish bowl of spaghetti was eventually plopped down in front of me and i tasted......and tasted, and tasted. it was gone pretty quickly. gino, sadly, just recently closed for good {why? come back! you've been around since 1945 for god's sake!} but its marinara has been my "last meal" and pasta, in general, has been my favorite food ever since that first bite.
now i can and sometimes do eat pasta for ever meal. another reason to love it is because it's one of those foods that's so simple make yet easy to mix up. a hearty bolognese sauce in the winter, a creamy carbonara in the fall, some peas, butter and asparagus in the spring, corn and bacon in the summer......
this dish, though untraditional, turned out nice, light, and fresh. it's a great summer pasta dish. adding chopped almonds i understand could throw some people off but it did end up adding a nice crunchy dimension {what i'm really saying is that it made the pasta sauce fucking good....add it!}.


fettuccine with fresh corn.
adapted from bon appetit
serves 2
- 2 bacon slices, cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces.
- 2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 3 large ears)
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup of chopped almonds, for serving
- 1/2 lb. fettuccine
- 1/2 tbsp. of unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup coarsely torn fresh basil leaves, divided
- salt & pepper
- cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, stirring often. transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet.
- add corn, garlic, coarse salt, and pepper to drippings in skillet. sauté over medium-high heat until corn is just tender but not brown, about 4 minutes.
- transfer 1/2 the corn kernels to small bowl and reserve. scrape remaining corn mixture into a blender with butter. puree.
- cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. drain, reserving some pasta cooking liquid.
- return pasta to pot. add corn puree, reserved corn kernels, 1/2 the basil leaves, and 1/2 the parmesan. toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid if needed. season pasta to taste with salt and pepper.
transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. sprinkle with remaining basil leaves, parmesan, reserved bacon, and chopped almonds. serve.

















