Getting out the food processor is a whole thing at my house that I try to avoid when possible. Even though I love my food processor, I don’t love cleaning all four pieces of it… I mean, that’s not exactly weeknight friendly. So I came up with a really easy cutting board pesto with sweet corn that will blow you away. This seared mahi mahi with sweet corn pesto is served on a bed of pearled cous cous with fresh tomatoes. It’s the epitome of summer cooking, and it looks so impressive
Let’s get started on this recipe! First I boil the corn for 8 minutes. Then we’ll make the cous cous in a small pot. I boiled a cup and a half of water, and once the water comes to a boil, I added the cous cous. Bring it down to a simmer and cover it, cooking for 8 minutes. While your cous cous cooks, make your pesto.
I pretty much chopped everything together on a cutting board. I started with chopping my basil, then I minced my garlic and added it to the basil. I added in the pumpkin seeds and parmesan cheese, chopping it up together into the basil. Then I squeezed over the juice of one lemon. I poured this into a bowl and cut the corn off of the cob, reserving half. Then the other half I chopped and added to the pesto. Drizzle in the olive oil and add a pinch of salt and mix. Cut the tomatoes in half. Once your cous cous is cooked, add your tomatoes and a couple spoonfuls of pesto to the cous cous. Taste to see if it needs salt.
Next to prepare your mahi, sprinkle each with salt, and add a spoonful of pesto to the top of each filet, spreading it on top. Heat a large nonstick pan to medium high heat, and add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Then sear the mahi on each side for 3 minutes until cooked through but not dry. Remove from the pan, serving over the cous cous. Spoon the remaining pesto on each filet. See the full recipe below.
- 3 ears of corn, shucked
- 1½ cups basil leaves
- 1 peeled garlic clove
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1 lemon
- ½ cup olive oil
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 1 cup pearled cous cous
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- two 6 oz. mahi mahi filets
- Bring a medium pot of water to boil and boil the corn for 8-9 minutes. Drain the corn and set aside to cool.
- On a large cutting board, remove the stems from the basil leaves, and finely chop the leaves. Mince the garlic and add to the basil. Add the parmesan cheese and use your knife to chop and combine the mixture in a pile. Roughly chop the pumpkin seeds, add them to the basil, and chop the whole mixture. Halve the lemon and squeeze both halves of the lemon over the basil mixture. Pour the mixture into a medium bowl and add the olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix together with a fork or spoon.
- Cut the corn cobs in half. Cut the corn off half the corn cobs. Roughly chop it and add it to the pesto, mixing. Set the remaining corn aside.
- Sprinkle salt on each mahi mahi filets. Slather a spoonful of pesto on each of the mahi filets and set aside.
- In a small pot, add 1½ cups of water. Bring it to a boil. Once boiling, add the cous cous and a small drizzle of olive oil. Mix together. Once the cous cous is boiling again, bring the heat down to low and cover with the lid, simmering for 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half and cu the remaining corn off the cob. Once the cous cous is cooked, stir in a heaping spoonful of the pesto along with the corn and cherry tomatoes and a sprinkle of salt. Set aside.
- Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Once hot, add the mahi filets, pesto side up. Cook for 3 minutes on one side then flip over and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until fish is cooked but flakes easily. Remove from the pan immediately, and serve on top of the cous cous. Top with the remaining pesto for serving.
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