Description: The combination of tomato and basil is typical but never boring. 
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• Bucatini pasta (alternatively, spaghetti or linguine) – 160g
• Cherry tomatoes – 6 pieces or 40g
• Garlic – crushed, 2 cloves
• Ground black pepper – 2 dashes
• Olive oil – 2 tablespoons
• Basil leaves – Torn (keep some for the topping), 20 leaves or 5g
• Salt – 2 dashes

Method

1. Cook the pasta until al dente in plenty of boiling water with salt.
2. When the pasta is almost cooked, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over strong heat.
3. Add the garlic, and tomato to the pan. Cook for 30 seconds.
4. Stop the heat. Add drained pasta and basil to the pan. Mix well.

To serve: sprinkle additional black pepper and/or salt according to personal preference. Top it up with basil leaves.

Nutritional Values Per Serving

Kcal	Protein	Fat	Carbs	Fibre	Sugars	Salt	Saturated Fat	Vitamin B3
412.9	10.5g	15.5g	60.5g	3.2g	4.9g	0.4g	3.2g	6.4mg
20.6%	20.9%	22.2%	23.3%	10.8%	5.4%	6.5%	15.8%	48.9%

Nutritional Tips

Tomatoes are really low in calories (18 kcal/100g according to USDA) and are a fruit but interestingly we prepare and eat them like other vegetables. Some may remove the skin but the peel has nutritional contents, therefore it may be beneficial to eat it unless you really wish to remove it (Elbadway and Sello, 2011, 9 (2), S1010-S1018).

My unforgettable memory of “La tomatina”. It’s basically a fruit-throwing battle. It is a festival held in Buñol (Valencian town) in the east of Spain. It is usually held at the end of August every year.

I usually hold tomatoes to either cook or eat them. But that day, I was holding a tomato for another purpose. I felt as if I was a piece of tomato to be cooked in sauce. The event lasts about an hour. It was fun, I doubt I can ever do it again but I think the best way to enjoy tomatoes is probably just to eat them when you grow old.