Summers can be hot in northern California. This week the mercury is forecast to top 90 degrees at the ranch - if not 100! So I'm always looking for quick recipes that don't require much kitchen time - let alone a very hot stove. The spaghetti with raw tomatoes featured here fits that bill. It hails from Italy, where summers can be excruciatingly hot. (Click here to see the recipe.)

 

Spaghetti Sauce

For the sauce, ripe tomatoes are peeled, seeded and chopped. They're combined in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil - I'd use our Everyday Fresh or fruity Arbequina - along with basil, a couple of whole garlic cloves, and salt and pepper. The ingredients are left to "mingle" at room temperature for half an hour.The sauce is then tossed with cooked spaghetti. It's that simple. (Click here to see the recipe.)If you're a garlic lover you could slice the garlic cloves to add more punch to the sauce. I'd also give my pasta a finishing drizzle of olive oil for  added flavor.The dish appears in  Recipes from an Italian Summer (Phaidon Press, 2010).Bon appétit,California Olive Ranch Master Miller Bob Singletary