Summer vegetable cavatelli with fresh corn cream

Invert a ramekin in a bowl, stand the cob on it and slice the kernels down; then scrape the cob with the back of the knife at an angle for the sweet milky part.

Blend two ears of kernels with two cups of chicken broth on high a couple of minutes until completely smooth.

Pass it through a fine strainer, which is optional but gives a silkier product. This is the fresh sweet corn cream, and it stands in for cream in any pasta.

Cook about three or four ounces of pancetta in a pan with a little olive oil over medium until pretty well done but not quite crisp.

Lift out some of the fat with a wadded paper towel, leaving a little behind.

Add the diced red pepper and zucchini with a big pinch of salt and saute three or four minutes on medium-high, until the zucchini just softens but is not mushy.

Turn the heat off and stir in a pinch of cayenne and a little freshly ground black pepper; the pan can sit six or seven minutes while the pasta finishes.

Boil the cavatelli in salted water about a minute under the box time, since it cooks on in the sauce, and drain it well.

Add the pasta to the pan with about a cup and a half of corn cream, turn the heat back to medium-high and let it heat through and thicken; the corn's own starch thickens it much as reducing cream would.

Off the heat, toss in the halved cherry tomatoes, the parsley and basil and a little grated Parmigiano Reggiano, stir, and taste for seasoning.

Plate into a pasta bowl and garnish with a little extra cheese and another pinch of herb.