freakin hot

No one can be expected to cook when it's this hot out, unless you're getting paid to. Like the great people who cooked all of the meals that I ate this weekend. Including the Meaty Mac at Atlantic Chip Shop, which might be one of my favorite dishes ever. For those unlucky folks out there who have never eaten one, it is simply a Shepherd's Pie where the mashed potato topping is replaced with Mac N Cheese. I guess it's a strange thing to eat when it's 95 degrees out, but I only felt sick after I went back outside.

So I didn't do any cooking at all this weekend. I did intend to make Sunday Supper, but by the time we got home from the Blonde Redhead show at the McCarren Pool, we were sticky and cranky and lightheaded from the sun. And J-Cat could barely move because he overdid it with the skateboard. So instead I'll share with you a dish that would be a good thing to make on a hot day. I made this no-cook pasta sauce a couple of weeks ago and for some reason never bothered to post it.



I've made about a dozen different variations of this pasta, depending on what I happen to have on hand, but the basic version is incredibly simple. I'm not even sure what it might be called; perhaps a raw Aglio & Olio with tomatoes, or Pasta alla Cecca? Regardless, it is as easy as it gets and really requires no measuring as I feel this sauce should be completely to your own personal tastes. Just combine a really good extra virgin olive oil with finely chopped fresh garlic, chopped fresh basil, and diced fresh roma tomatoes. I peel the tomatoes with a potato peeler, you could also score and blanch them for 60 seconds and plunge into ice water before peeling. You might enjoy adding a bit of hot red pepper, and of course salt and pepper to your taste. I like this sauce cold, so I make it ahead of time and set it in the fridge while I cook the pasta. The longer the ingredients have to mingle, the better.