This is Day 6 of my Sweet on Corn series. That means it is the sixth of seven posts dedicated to sweet summer corn. I always forget how hard these series can be, too. But when I say seven posts in a row. I mean it. Seven posts. Seven days. No breaks.

But that doesn't mean I can't simplify some. So today's corn conundrum solves itself with a pasta dish.

It’s not something you see every day but “fresh corn and pasta make a great combination of flavors. When sun-dried tomatoes and toasted garlic are added you get an intensity of flavors that belies the simplicity of the cooking.”

That’s a quote from Michael Chiarello. He sums this pasta dish up very well– so I went ahead and included his words. The inspiration and flavors for today’s corn recipe comes from him. Sure I simplified and edited quite a bit from his original recipe, but I do believe I kept the spirit intact. So much intact that the quote seems to work with my version as well as it works with his. Besides I can’t imagine saying it any better than he did. Especially on day six of a week-long corn marathon.

But I still need to put my two cents in some place, so I decided to illustrate the perfect simplicity that defines this dish with an equally simple still life as my mise en place photo. I get a lot of pleasure putting together ingredient vignettes like this. The photo meanies don't seem to like them, but it's Day 6 and I don't really care! Besides I like to think these shots are art, not food porn. Because for me there is pleasure in mise en place in general, whether I plan to photograph it or not.

Quick boil some water. It’s default pasta night!

No wait– I am kidding. Well I am not kidding that it is default pasta night but I am kidding that I need boiled water for this pasta. Because who says default pasta needs be traditional “Italian Style” noodles. Not me!

Tonight’s default pasta takes a decidedly Asian twist, because I am using a package of Chinese style pancit noodles I have had sitting in the fridge for months. Because truthfully I had never cooked with them before so did not really know what to do with them. So there they sat. Until tonight.

Because in true default pasta fashion I just decided to use them on whim. In fact it is these very noodles that convinced to take this pasta dish in an easterly direction.

You see, impulsively I bought a couple of pounds of clams today. Now I am sure you know clams don’t keep fresh all that long, so I knew clams were going to be on the menu tonight. I also knew it was going to be default pasta night because when I blindly picked up the clams today, I did not pick up anything else to go along with them. So I knew whatever would be happening to these clams it would have to happen with whatever other ingredients I could find in my fridge or pantry.