CRISPY VENISON AND CREAMY CORN PASTA

Photo by Larry White

This is one of those summertime dishes that's super comforting, pretty easy to make and is a crowd-pleaser. If you have the opportunity use fresh corn, but frozen corn will work just fine. There's a wide variety of flavors going on here with sweet corn, acidic tomatoes, crispy tender venison and salty pecorino Romano cheese. If you happened to make my cured egg yolk recipe, this is a great time to use a little.

Cooks Notes:

If you're using cured egg yolks, you can cut back on garnishing with extra cheese at the end. The cured egg yolks have a salty and aged cheesy flavor themselves. Click here to check out the recipe for the cured egg yolks.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound - boneless venison shoulder or boneless neck (cut into 2 inch pieces)

• 12 ounces dry orichiette or rigatoni pasta

• 3 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/4 cup onion diced

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/4 teaspoon chile flakes

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)

• 1/4 cup coconut cream or heavy cream

• 1 cup pecorino Romano cheese

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced

• fresh basil for garnishing

• 1 grated cured egg yolk (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium sized pot add your cubed venison and cover with either venison stock, light chicken stock or beef stock. Cover and simmer until it is fork tender. Drain the meat and lay onto paper-towels to dry off.

2. While your venison is cooking, cook your pasta until it is al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pastas cooking liquid and set aside. Toss the cooked pasta with 1 tablespoon of your olive oil.

3. Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Once the pan is nice and hot, add 2 tablespoon of your olive oil. Add your tender venison to the pan and season to your liking with salt. Crisp the venison on all sides, and set the meat aside for later.

4. In the same pan that you crisped the venison in, add the butter and melt it over medium low heat. Add your onion and red chile flakes and cook until the onions are soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add the corn kernels and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water and cook for another 5 minutes.

5. Transfer all the cooked corn mixture (reserving 1/2 cup for later) and coconut cream to a blender and puree until smooth. Season the puree with salt and pepper to your liking.

6. Add the cooked pasta, crispy venison, corn puree and reserved corn kernels to the pan and stir to mix everything up. Stir in 2/3 cup of your cheese and cook about 1 minute to slightly thicken. If its too thick, slowly add in a little of your remaining pasta water. Season with salt and pepper again if needed.

7. Garnish with fresh basil, sliced cherry tomatoes and grated cured egg yolks if you're using.