For an almost no-cook dinner, just boil water: Pasta with Pecan Pesto

Basil, Parmesan, garlic, pecans and olive oil create a fresh, lively summer meal without heating up the kitchen.

SUMMER HEAT HAS US ALL COOKING LESS. Or at least trying to not heat up the kitchen. Pesto in its various forms is an ideal compromise. It’s essentially a salsa cruda—a raw, uncooked sauce. And besides quickly pan roasting the pecans, the only thing you cook is the pasta.

While many salsa crudas feature tomatoes, the star of pesto is typically basil. The basil you’ll find grown in many home cook gardens is Sweet Basil or its close relative, Genovese Basil. A member of the mint family, it has a mild, fresh, sweet, slightly peppery, slightly minty flavor. That flavor is best showcased when it’s added at the end of cooking a dish—or in the case of pesto, not cooking at all.

Besides not heating up the kitchen, you’re not eating an overly hot meal either. The cooked pasta warms the room-temperature pesto, and the pesto slightly cools the pasta. The result is a lighter meal, perfect for a summer evening. You’ll find our recipe here.