When the weather is hot, my enthusiasm for complicated cooking fades.
I turn instead to recipes for uncooked pasta sauces where the only cooking involved is boiling the pasta water.
If you have some good dried pasta and a piece of grating cheese on hand, you can turn these humble ingredients into a feast. Simply add a decent grinding of black pepper, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a shower of grated Pecorino Romano to cooked pasta, and you have dinner.
On summer days I halve cherry tomatoes, add a coarsely chopped bunch of basil, a few garlic cloves (grated on a Microplane), and mix it all together with extra-virgin olive oil. When the pasta is al dente, I drain it, toss it with the tomato mixture and add crumbled goat cheese. The hot pasta melts the cheese into a creamy sauce, and the basil and garlic add a pleasant zest. Sometimes, instead of goat cheese, I use cubes of mozzarella, which become warm and stringy when hit with the hot pasta.
One of my favorite recipes is a little more complicated. Basil is plentiful this time of the year and makes wonderful pesto. I make it according to the ingredients I have on hand. So adjust the ingredients to your taste or pantry.
Grate ½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in the bowl of food processor; add ⅓ cup nuts of your choice (pine nuts or walnuts) and pulse to grate. Remove from food processor and set aside. Combine 2 cups basil leaves (or parsley or cilantro) with nuts and pulse a few times. Add 2 peeled garlic cloves and cheese, and pulse a few times more. Slowly add ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Most uncooked sauces should be at room temperature prior to blending with hot pasta. Look for pasta made with durum wheat (semolina) flour imported from Italy because it doesn't get mushy when it is cooked.
Use long pastas (spaghetti, fettuccine, etc.) with sauces that have a creamy texture (the sauce will stick to the noodle). Use short pastas such as penne, farfalle and orecchiette with sauces that are chunky (the bits of sauce will cling to the nooks and crannies).
