Summer Pasta Part I

During last week's heat wave, when it reached 103° in NYC—a record for that day —I couldn't bare the thought of spending too much time in the kitchen to cook dinner. So I relied on one of our favorite warm-weather meals: spaghetti with arugula, cherry tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil. This dish tastes like summer. The beauty of this recipe is that you most likely have all or most of the ingredients in your cupboard or refrigerator. Garlic is a staple in our kitchen as is olive oil. We're growing tomatoes in our garden in Copake but it's too early to pick any just yet, so I grabbed some cherry tomatoes from the market. Arugula on the other hand was one of the first vegetables to grow in our new garden this summer. Carl takes the credit here. He grew the plant from seeds and took pains to keep the patch weed and critter free.


I cut the tomatoes in half and washed the arugula. Next, I sauteed chopped garlic in the olive oil for 30 seconds or less. Don't let the garlic start to brown. It will taste too bitter. Add the cherry tomatoes and saute until they start to caramelize and create a thickened sauce. While you're doing this have a pot of water on to boil. I prefer traditional spaghetti # 8 for this but you can use linguine or any long pasta of your liking. Once the pasta is al dente, drain and pour the hot spaghetti on top of a heallthy serving of arugula placed in your serving bowl. The heat from the pasta will wilt the greens. Pour that delicious red "sauce" of tangy tomatoes over it. Voila! A taste of summer at your ready in less than 20 minutes. Fresh ground pepper and little Percorino Romano on top finishes it off. Take your bowl as quickly as you can into the air-conditioned living room and slowly enjoy your dinner in front of the AC and the latest episode of Glee stored on your DVR. Dishes can wait until tomorrow when the weather cools. Hopefully.