This past weekend was blazingly hot, like the departing summer sun was leaning in to give Seattle a big ol’ hug before it inevitably ignores us for the fall and winter. As a result, the ambient temperature of my apartment reached levels that were previously only recorded inside of active volcanoes.

And that’s where I ran into this little dilemma — the last thing I wanted to do was turn on my stove, but the only thing in the world I wanted to eat was pasta. That’s how my mind works, folks, like the time I decided to walk in a blizzard because I wanted ice cream. Sigh. Simmering a nice red sauce on the stove was out of the question, but what can be done instead? This can be done instead.

I found this recipe on Epicurious years ago, and it’s something I find myself making over and over again. It’s so simple and easy, and best of all, requires minimal stove time. Just long enough to boil whatever pasta suits your fancy plus a minute more for the broccoli to get all nice and soft, et voilà — dinner is served.

The broccoli is boiled to near-mush, which may sound kind of gross to some people (I for one love all broccoli, even the mushy kind), but trust me, it works here. The florets disintegrate into the pasta and the stalks kind of melt into it too, creating a creamy, pesto-like effect. The addition of salty Pecorino Romano cheese and olive oil just makes it that much more rich without becoming heavy like an alfredo dish.

There are very few ingredients at play here, but please heed my advice and choose a good quality olive oil for this. You want something with a nice, robust flavor. My supermarket favorite is Cobram Estate’s extra virgin olive oil because it’s olive-y and peppery. Excellent olive oil should have a bit of kick to it, and because it’s one of the main ingredients here, you’ll want that extra zing. Use the good stuff, and it’ll take this simple little pasta dish from “yeah” to “YEAH!!!!!”