Operation "Feed Pops" Is Well Underway

My papa hasn't been feeling too well lately and he's not eating much but canned broth on a bad day and prepackaged food on a good day. My father has always been an excellent cook and besides that, I just cannot have him eating solely for sustenance and not for enjoyment. I saw a recipe for fusili with zuchinni, corn, bacon and pesto in this month's Gourmet and I thought that this would be a good recipe to both feed my dad and put a dent in the zucchini that is just starting to overwhelm the garden. The recipe calls for a container of pesto, of course I made it instead so that recipe follows my notes on the pasta recipe. Oh, and at dinner, my dad ate seconds and took a container home!

Zucchini, Corn and Basil Fusili with Bacon:

6 bacon slices
1 pound fusilli
3 ears corn, kernels cut from cob
1 1/2 pounds zucchini, coarsely chopped (1/2-inch pieces)
1 (5- to 7-ounce) container basil pesto

Cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp. Drain on paper towels; discard drippings from skillet.

Meanwhile, cook fusilli in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quart water) until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then add vegetables to pasta in pot and cook, partially covered, 2 minutes (water will stop boiling). Drain.

Add pasta with vegetables to skillet along with pesto and 1/4 cup reserved cooking water and toss. Season with salt and moisten with additional cooking water if necessary.

Top with crumbled bacon and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.

Notes: How can you crisp bacon and blanch zucchini, thereby wasting bacon drippings? That's wasteful. I drained almost all the fat but kept a bit to saute the zucchini for about 7-8 minutes, to get it golden but not make it mushy. I DID, however, blanch the corn on the cob to make it easier to cut off the kernels. Toss the corn in the skillet with the zucchini just for a minute. Then I put the vegetables in a huge pasta bowl with all the other ingredients and tossed with tongs to coat the pasta evenly. Yuo could, of course, make this without bacon but that was the best part. Actually, I rarely eat bacon and when I do, I want more than one slice per serving. Next time I'll up the bacon ante.

Pesto:

2 cups basil (the younger and more tender, the better!)
1/4 c. toasted pine nuts
1/2 c. olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 c. romano
salt and pepper

Process in the food processor. Easy. You may want to play with the amounts, everyone likes a different consistency. If you're planning on freezing any of this, leave out the cheese and remember to add it next time you use it.