Ina Garten’s Summer Garden Pasta Is All We Want to Eat in These Heat Waves

You’re spending the summer tending to a lush garden, staying cool in a chambray button-down and sending Jeffrey off to pick up a loaf of artisan sourdough. Oh wait, that’s just Ina Garten. As for you, if you’re like us, you’re camped out in front of the A/C just trying to beat the heat. Thankfully, though, our patron saint of good olive oil just shared a recipe for a vegetable-packed summer garden pasta that’s ideal for scorching temps. There’s no sauce to cook and it comes together with just nine ingredients (including salt, pepper and *good* olive oil).

“Another fabulous, surprisingly simple summer recipe that I love comes from my late friend Jean Halberstam,” the Go-To Dinners author wrote in the caption. “Jean’s husband used to call this Summer Garden Pasta a ‘three-bowler.’ Would you agree?”

With basil, cherry tomatoes and a generous helping of Parmesan cheese, yes, we would absolutely eat three bowls of this dish in one sitting. And while we know angel hair can be contentious (some love it, some love to hate it), we think the delicate strands work particularly well with the simple, seasonal flavors. If you must, we think you could swap in regular spaghetti (or another long noodle shape) without issue.

Our favorite part is that the sauce comes together without turning on the stove—you just toss the tomatoes and basil in a bowl and let them marinate in (good) olive oil for a few hours. Garten shared the full recipe on her Barefoot Contessa blog.

Of course, she probably grew the tomatoes herself…but store-bought is fine.