Corn Carbonara

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A plate of pale yellow spaghetti carbonara topped with prosciutto, bright yellow corn, and fresh basil

This is one of my favorite summer recipes. I made a batch just for the 2026 Small Web Potluck because it's peak corn season here in Colorado, which lines up nicely with the yellow theme. And carbonara means eggs, and eggs mean more yellow!

This is best if you can get fresh corn, but frozen is still good.

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Ingredients

Pasta

  • 1 pound of any long pasta
  • 4-5 large eggs
  • ~1/2 cup/110g shredded parmesan cheese

Toppings

  • Corn, more is better (at least 2 or 3 cobs)
  • ~1 tbsp butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Dried herbs - dill, basil, thyme, etc.
  • Prosciutto
  • Fresh basil

Directions

  1. Beat the eggs and parmesan together until the cheese is fully coated by the eggs. You need to have this done before the pasta is done cooking.
  2. Boil the pasta. Once the pasta is cooked, reserve some pasta water (about a cup), then drain.
  3. In the same pot you boiled the pasta in, add the egg mixture in small increments and stir constantly. Add the reserved pasta water as needed if it doesn't look like the eggs are fully coating the pasta. You need to do this quickly so the heat cooks the eggs as you mix them in. Keep adding and stirring until the egg has been completely combined with the pasta.
  4. Tear or cut the prosciutto into small pieces and mix into the pasta.
  5. While the pasta cools, combine the corn, butter, garlic, and dried herbs in a bowl and microwave to melt the butter. Or do it in a pan.
  6. Serve the pasta, then top with a generous amount of corn. Finish with a few pieces of torn basil leaves and additional parmesan if desired.

Notes

Any herbs will work here so do whatever you want. Fresh basil is ideal if you can get it.