(CBS) Ruth Rogers is at it again.

The co-owner and executive chef of London's legendary "River Café" has penned her sixth cookbook with the eatery's other owner, Rose Gray.

"Italian Two Easy" is the second volume of simple and delicious recipes. They mapped out this one last May while they were looking for inspiration in Puglia. It reflects the variety in regional dishes. You can find yourself traveling through the recipes: One minute you're in Verona and the next, you're in southern Tuscany.

The "simple and delicious" theme runs through their other five cookbooks, all best-sellers.

Rogers shared some recipes from "Italian Two Easy" Friday in the final installment of The Early Show's weeklong series, "Culinary Inspirations," in which top chefs have been dishing up mouthwatering meals for summer.

Rogers prepared two easy dishes: spaghetti with raw tomato and a delicious salad using bottarga.

FOOD TERMINOLOGY:

Bottarga originates in countries surrounding the Mediterranean. Sometimes called "the poor man's caviar," bottarga is the roe pouch of either tuna (tonno) or the gray mullet fish (muggine), or sometimes swordfish, which is massaged by hand to eliminate air pockets, then dried and cured in sea salt for a few weeks. Using sea salt, the roe is cured and dried to perfection, then waxed to prevent further drying and exposure to light. Waxing also prevents contact with foreign matter. For the novice, bottarga appears quite unique, odorless, and may look like a flat, waxed sausage. But once the wax is removed, your taste buds will discover one of the most flavorful marine products. Colors naturally vary from golden yellow to darker shades of reddish brown. Slice Bottarga thin, then squeeze lightly to remove the wax.

Mache: The word "mache" is from the French mâcher, "to chew." It is a small-leafed, edible plant. Depending on the variety, it can range from four inches to a foot in height. The leaves may be wide or narrow, round or pointed, and range from light to very dark green. Closely related to valerian — hence, its old French name valérianelle, this Mediterranean annual is also called corn salad, since it tends to grow wild in corn fields, and lamb's lettuce, because it attracts animals. In France it is also referred to as "salade nantaise," because 80 percent of the country's production comes from the Nantes region. The cultivation of mache goes back to the mid 17th century, and its success in the region has to do with the sandy Loire soils, which provide ideal growing conditions. In the old days, it was also sometimes called "priest's salad," since it was a staple of rectory gardens.

RECIPES

Red and yellow peppers, capers

Wash the salt from capers and drain. Grill a red and yellow bell pepper until the skins are blackened. Peel, remove the seeds, and then tear lengthwise into quarters. Toss with olive oil, red wine vinegar, torn basil, capers, and black pepper. Place on a plate with mozzarella.

Spaghetti, raw tomato, arugula

4 plum tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp capers
3 tbsp black olives
3 tbsp arugula leaves
3 tbsp ex. v. olive oil
11 oz spaghetti

Cut the tomatoes in half. Squeeze out excess juice and seeds, and chop the flesh coarsely. Peel the garlic and squash with 1 tsp sea salt. Crumble the chile. Rinse the capers, and pit the olives. Roughly chop the arugula.

Combine the tomatoes, garlic, chile, capers, and olives. Season generously, add the olive oil, and put aside for 30 minutes.

Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, and stir the pasta into the tomatoes. Add the arugula. Toss to coat each strand. Season with black pepper.

Serve with olive oil.

Note: Plum tomatoes are fleshy and easy to peel and have hardly any juice or seeds, which makes them ideal for rich, thick tomato sauces. This raw sauce should only be made in the summer, when you can buy sun-ripened plum tomatoes that are really sweet.

For many more of Roger's recipes, go to Page 2.

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