Begin by standing corn upright in a shallow bowl, end to end. Using a sharp knife, cut down the sides of the corn to remove the kernels. This normally takes me about 4 passes per cob. Reserve the kernels in the bowl and add the cleaned cobs to a medium pot with 10-11 cups (about 2.5 liters) or water. Bring corncobs to a boil and let cook for 15 minutes. This will infused more corn flavor and starch into our eventual pasta cooking water. 

Meanwhile, add diced tomatoes to a small bowl and season with 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

In a large skillet or wok over medium heat, melt 2 TBS butter and sauté shallots for 5 minutes, until fragrant, stirring as you go. Add corn kernels, hot pepper, garlic, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt. Remove 1 cup of water from the cooking corncobs and add this to the pan with the corn and shallots. Stir to combine. Let cook for 5-8 minutes, until the corn is slightly browned. It will thicken a bit

Using tongs, remove corncobs from their cooking water. Bring it back up to a boil and add pasta, cooking according to package instructions. Reserve one more cup of pasta water, setting it aside. Drain pasta and set aside. 

Add cooked pasta to the pan with the corn along with 2 more TBS butter. Stir to combine and stream in half of the reserved cooking water. See if the sauce is creamy enough and add the rest of the water as needed. Add reserved tomatoes and fresh basil. Enjoy immediately!