Fresh Pasta

Last weekend Geoff and I were watching this TED video by William Li about cancer fighting foods, and it inspired me to cook something using tomatoes.

The video is well worth watching, and although it reiterates many of the foods that have been recommended for their health benefits over the years, it is good to be reminded that I should make an effort to cook some of them more often, and that they really do have a positive impact on your health.

Just to summarise, some of the things he highly recommends are: green tea, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, oranges, lemons, apples, red grapes, red wine, bok choy, soy beans, ginseng, artichoke, pumpkin, tuna, garlic, tomato and olive oil.

Rather than made the pasta myself, we decided to try pasta from a lovely store near our house called Donninis Pasta that we have been meaning to try for some time. We chose artichoke agnolotti.

The pasta was beautiful and fresh and had a lovely flavour. I am looking forward to trying the pumpkin and almond agnolotti very soon.

I decided to make a simple tomato sauce to go with it, which took no time at all to make, but tastes delicious.

You will need:
For two people

• 6 large ripe tomatoes
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Fresh basil
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Sugar

Simply cut the tomatoes in half and place onto a tray or into a largish dish. Chop up the garlic into slivers and stick them into the tomatoes, about 2 slivers each. Chop up some basil and stick this into the tomatoes as well. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle some salt over the top.


Place in an oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes.

Once cooked, I like to mash it together with a potato masher so it is a little more rustic in texture, however if you prefer it to be more smooth, then use an electric mixer. Sprinkle in half a teaspoon of sugar and a little more salt to taste.

Boil a pot of water, and then place the pasta in to cook for about 5 minutes. Drain and serve. Very easy and delicious!