07/08/2022
By Kate Stone Lombardi
It’s not so hot out, but our air conditioning broke, and after making a somewhat labor-intensive dinner last night, I couldn’t face multiple boiling pots and a hot oven tonight.
I hear by offer “Too Hot To Cook Summer Pasta.” Yes, you need to boil water and cook and drain the pasta, but that’s the only heat-related step.
Recipe: A couple of hours before you intend to serve dinner-
– Mince several cloves of garlic. I used four, but we are a garlic loving family. You might want to keep it to two or three cloves. I’m writing this after dinner and we all have horrendous breath.
– Put the garlic in a large bowl.
– Pour roughly a quarter cup of good quality of olive oil over the garlic.
– Chop up a couple of large, ripe summer tomatoes. I used 3. Try to get the seeds out when you chop. Add to the bowl.
– Dice roughly 1/2 pound of (preferably fresh) mozzarella cheese. Add to bowl.
– Tear up fresh basil leaves from one medium size bunch of basil. Throw in bowl.
– Season with salt and pepper, and then stir the whole thing together. Cover with some kind of cling wrap and let sit at room temperature for a couple of hours.
– When you’re ready for dinner, cook the pasta. You can use any kind you like. Use a pound. I only had linguine, which I broke in half before I cooked it.
– When the pasta is ready, toss it with the sauce you made earlier. The hot pasta will mostly melt the mozzarella and the whole thing will come together beautifully. If needed, add more olive oil and salt and pepper.
This dish also works with brie cheese, but if you go that route, take the rind off.
Happy Summer!