This is a delicious recipe from The Daily Bread, which I’ve altered a little, and renamed. It’s a very garlicky pasta dish, and is also fairly oily – in a lovely way, but it mightn’t suit delicate stomachs. Good both warm and cold, this is a wonderfully versatile dish. I can foresee it appearing in many dinner menus in the future.

1/2 cup olive oil
1 head of garlic – excess paper removed
500g small pasta
1 bunch fresh basil
200g bacon
200g Tasmanian feta cheese
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1 punnet cherry tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 160C. Put the head of garlic in a small heatproof pot – I used a big coffee mug – and pour the olive oil over the top. Bake for about an hour, until it’s golden and soft.

While the garlic’s baking, chop the bacon into small bits and fry until nicely crisp. Set aside. Slice the sundried tomatoes into small pieces, chop the cherry tomatoes into quarters, and roughly chop the basil.

When the garlic is nearly ready, cook the pasta until tender. Pour into a large mixing bowl.

When the garlic is baked, remove it from the oil. Squeeze the soft baked garlic from its cases – it may be easier to slip the cloves free with a fork. Pour the oil over the pasta – if you want the pasta to be less oily, don’t pour the entire amount on. Add the bacon, sundried and cherry tomatoes, and basil. Mix well. Crumble the feta cheese over the pasta, and mix in. Add pepper to taste, and eat immediately.