Bruschetta Pasta!

After the ups and downs of an extremely busy past couple of weeks, you, dear reader, are finally given a post from your third author: A.K. My needs when cooking are simple: I want to enjoy food the way it was meant to exist, to prepare as much as possible from scratch, to avoid eating foods that my body cannot handle and to make things as delicious as possible! I strive to eat all natural, all the time and to only eat "whole corn", meaning, to me, kernel corn or course ground cornmeal. My recipes may also sometimes lack certain things, simply due to my long list of food allergies.

Now, without further ado, onto my first recipe for you! I present a favorite, simple dish: Brushetta Pasta.

To prepare this, you will need:

• Pasta. I am still using pre-prepared pasta, so I use about 3/4 a box. If you make your own, more power to you! Simply prepare enough for the amount of people you wish to serve.
• Six fresh tomatoes
• Three cloves fresh garlic
• 1 large onion
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• Mozzarella or parmesan cheese, to taste (optional)

1) Prepare pasta as one normally would, by boiling it in water with a little salt and olive oil, or however you prefer to.

2) While this is cooking, begin by chopping all six tomatoes, being careful to save the juices. I like to chop them into chunks about the size of your average dice (this analogy is made more complicated if you, like me, are a huge geek. I am thinking of a standard D6, geeky friends!). You can then set these chopped tomatoes aside in a bowl. I do this first to allow the tomatoes to sit and let the juices flow out of them a bit.

3) Next, I chop the onion and garlic. I like to dice my onions to be fairly small, but leave my garlic in medium sized pieces, perhaps two millimeter cubes. While you are making preparations, you should wash and tear up or cut your basil into small pieces, tearing or cutting each leaf into at least quarters. I usually simply rip herbs and greens instead of cutting them because it makes them less smushed, but the choice is yours. Set the basil aside once you have prepared it.

4) Following this, place the onions and garlic in the pot you plan to cook in with the olive oil. I generally cook almost everything except stews and soups in a large wok, but if that is not available to you, use a good sized sauce pan. Fry the onions and garlic in the oil until they are soft and they fill your kitchen with a wonderful aroma.

5) Add the basil and cook it in the oil with the onions for a bit so that it gets soft and the flavors mix. At this stage of cooking it is hard to give a time estimation, but I would suggest a couple of minutes, while keeping a weather eye on things and making sure to stir continuously.

6) Once things are fragrant and looking delicious, add your tomatoes. Stir everything up. Allow these to come to a boil and then let them simmer for about fifteen minutes, or until your sauce is of the desired texture. It should yield a very chunky sauce that has little in common with a standard tomato sauce, since there are no crushed tomatoes involved.

7) Serve over your choice of pasta, which should have been finished and drained at some point. If you wish, you may choose to add mozzarella or parmesan cheese to the top, but it certainly isn't nessesary. Season each portion with salt as desired. I like to add salt to tomatoes all the time, but my partner prefers to allow the basil to speak more strongly.

8) Enjoy. This is a good nom!