Pasta with Fresh Corn and Snow Pea Pesto

More corn! It's just so hard to top Michigan sweet corn, I can't get enough of it! (Don't forget to check Real Time Farms to see where you can pick up some corn for yourself!)

Pasta with Fresh Corn and Snow Pea Pesto
(adapted slightly from Lottie + Doof, who adapted it from the August 2010 issue of Bon Appétit)

• soysage of choice (I used half a package of Gimme Lean! Ground Sausage Style)
• 4 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 6 large ears)
• 1 cup chopped snow peas
• 2 - 4 large garlic cloves, minced (When it comes to garlic, I'm a big believer in "go big or go home!")
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I used about half of this, go by what tastes good to you)
• 8 ounces pasta

Cook soysage in large nonstick skillet over medium heat with a little bit of olive oil until browned, stirring often. Remove soysage from the pan and set aside. Add corn, snow peas, garlic, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until corn is just tender but not brown, about 4 minutes.

Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the corn and snow pea mixture to a small bowl and reserve. Scrape remaining corn and snow pea mixture into processor. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pine nuts. With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube and blend until pesto is almost smooth. Set pesto aside.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. Add corn and snow pea pesto, soysage, and the reserved corn and snow peas. Toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper, and top with additional grated Parmesan.