Greek Pasta Salad

Peel the garlic cloves and cook them with the pasta in salted, boiling water. Cook the pasta as directed on the package for al dente. Do not cook the pasta as much as you would usually, because you want to ensure the pasta is still a little firm. The garlic cloves should be a soft when done.

Meanwhile, with a little bit of oil (your choice, I prefer sesame oil for its nutty flavour) toast the almonds in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant and slightly darkened. You can cook the mushrooms with the nuts (same skillet, same amount of time) if you wish. Or you can do them separate. As you are cooking the mushrooms, flavour the mushrooms with dried herbs (I prefer rosemary and oregano). Once the nuts have been toasted and the mushrooms are soft, remove them from the pan.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Use leftover oil to lightly cook the tomatoes. They should be soft and slightly browned when removed from the pan.

Cut the cucumber. I prefer dicing it, but if you simply want to slice it, that is also fine.

Drain the water from the pasta and remove the garlic cloves (set them aside). Add the cucumbers, tomato, basil, nuts and mushrooms to the pasta.

Mash the garlic cloves in a bowl. They should form a thick paste. Add in olive oil, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste and mix to combine. If you want to add more oil feel free to do so, but I find this is oily enough.

Add dressing to pasta and toss to combine. Crumble feta over the top of the pasta and serve warm.