Awesome and Cool PASTA dishes for SUMMER

4 Easy and Cool Pasta Dishes for Summer

Everyone loves pasta ,but during hot summer days a bowl of steaming pasta doesn't sound that appealing.

Some people make cold macaroni salads, but think pasta is not meant to be eaten cold and besides,those macaroni salads usually have mayonnaise in them and fill you up too much. Basically it's a dish of hot pasta that cools down by virtue of being tossed with uncooked ingredients . They call it a salsa cruda. This is a raw sauce used with pasta . It's quite popular during a hot summer. 

The basic idea behind a salsa cruda is that the ingredients in the sauce is not cooked and are merely warmed by the hot pasta after it's been drained.

Dressed up tuna and vegetables with bowties. 

A first course for a meal with grilled fish .

A second idea is fettuccine tossed with a melange of uncooked ingredients such as olives,capers,tomatoes,mint,lemon,parsley and garlic,which constitutes a raw sauce that screams "summer".This is a nice first-course pasta before having grilled fish.

letting your pasta cook its own sauce.

In a third preparation, also perfect for a hot summer day, the salsa cruda is made with canned sardines tossed with fresh mint and parsley, and ripe tomatoes that are heated through only by virtue of the cooked and hot spaghetti. It should be lukewarm when served and is nicely accompanied by crusty bread to soak up remaining sauce.

Creamy salsa cruda with ricotta.

This dish can be whipped up in no time as it uses a raw sauce with fresh ricotta that melts slowly from the heat of the pasta , but not completely, and with thinly sliced prosciutto. And better still would be to use fresh artichokes,if you don't mind the work involved . Instead of garnishing with parsley ,you garnish this dish with finely chopped tomato.

Fettuccine with Raw Sauce
prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes 
Yield: 4 servings 

Ingredients 
3/4 pound spaghetti
Salt to taste
1 large garlic clove ,finely chopped 
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves 
1 large ripe tomato, peeled ,seeded and chopped 
2 canned sardines in water , drained and broken apart 
2 teaspoons capers, chopped 
Extra virgil olive oil to taste 
Freshly ground black pepper to taste 

Directions
1. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, salt abundantly then cook the pasta is aldente. Drain without rinsing. 
2. In a large bowl that will hold all the pasta ,stir the garlic, parsley and mint together and then mix with the tomato, sardines,capers,olive oil and a pinch of salt. Transfer the pasta to the bowl and toss with the sauce and abundant black pepper and serve. Tubetti with Ricotta, Artichoke, prosciutto and mint 

Prep time : 5 minutes 
Cooking time: 10 minutes 
Total time: 15 minutes 
yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 elbow macaroni 
salt to taste
1/2 pound ricotta cheese 
1/2 cup extra virgil olive oil 
8 to 9 fresh or canned artichoke foundations, chopped (14-to 16-ounce can) or 3 very large fresh artichokes , trimmed to their foundations 
1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped 
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
Freshly ground black pepper to taste 
1 small tomato , peeled, and finely chopped 

Directions
1. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil ,salt abundantly then cook the pasta ,stirring occassionally , until the pasta is aldente. Drain without rinsing.
2. Meanwhile ,in a bowl, gently toss the ricotta ,olive oil, artichokes, proscicuotto, mint , lemon juice , salt and pepper together. Transfer the pasta to the bowl and toss with the cheese and artichokes mixture. Sprinkle the tomato on top and serve.