Creamy Avocado Pasta
27 June 2012 | 47 comments
Posted in 30-minutes recipe, Featured Articles, One-dish meal, pasta, Vegetarian, Western
Posted in 30-minutes recipe, Featured Articles, One-dish meal, pasta, Vegetarian, Western
RECIPE FOR CREAMY AVOCADO PASTA
Source: Adapted and modified from Oh She Glows
Serving: 2-3 (Best for 2 adults and one kid)
Ingredients for creamy avocado sauce:
1 medium size ripe avocado (pitted, roughly cut)
1 clove of garlic (roughly chopped)
2 tsp lemon juice (note 1)
½ tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup chopped cilantro or herbs such as basil or parsley (optional)
160g pasta of your choice (I used durum wheat spaghetti)For garnishing:
Handful of roasted chopped walnuts (note 2)
Handful of green peas (note 3)
Lemon zest (from 1 lemon) – (note 4)Methods:
- Put water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add salt and pasta, reduce heat to medium, and cook until Al Dente for about 8-10 minutes (depending on the brand).
- Drain the pasta but reserve 4 tbsps of pasta water. Return pasta to the pot with the water.
- Make the avocado sauce. Place chopped avocado, chopped garlic cloves, lemon juice, olive oil and cilantro or herbs (if use) into a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and black pepper.
- Pour sauce onto the pasta from step (1) and toss until the pasta is fully coated with the sauce. Transfer pasta to individual serving plates. Sprinkle green peas, walnuts and garnish with lemon zest. Serve immediately.
Notes:
- Add one extra teaspoon for more lemony taste.
- I used raw walnuts from US. To roast the walnuts, preheat oven at 160°C. Rinse lightly and pat dry with kitchen towel. Arrange walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until fragrant and toasted. Give it a stir once or twice. Set aside to cool. Roughly chopped.
- Thaw frozen green peas and blanch over boiling water for about 1 minute or until cooked. Immediately remove from the boiling water and plunge into an ice bath (a bowl full of ice and water). Immense the green peas in the ice bath until they are completely cool and then drain. This method is called “shocking” which will halt its cooking process completely and maintain the green hue of the green peas. If you want to skip this step, add green peas to step (1) 2 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
- You can use a zester or grater to zest your lemon. You can also use a vegetable peeler too. First, wash and scrub the fruit. Rinse and pat dry with a paper towel. Carefully peel off a strip of the orange rind working from top to bottom. Only outer yellow layers are needed as the white part will give a bitter taste to the dish. Take one strip (or a few), flatten it on the cutting board. Slice (julienne) the peel into very thin strip.
- This dish needs to be served immediately as it does not reheat well due to the avocado in the sauce.
- Other ingredients that can be added to this dish are chicken, shrimp, salmon, bacon, ham, sausages, broccoli, toasted pine nuts and grated parmesan cheese.
You had me at creamy and then avocado sauce, what a great way to enjoy avocado!
LCOM: Quick, go and try it out! You’re going to love it. 😉
This is definitely one of my favorite dishes! And such a delicious way to use avocado.
Joanne: It’s also our favourite too! 😉
I have yet to try any recipes using an avocado – this just might be my first.
The Sudden Cook: Do give it a try! Hope you’ll like it! 😉
So far, I have only tried making smoothies with avocado and my family loves it! I shall try this receipe and I love best is that it takes only 5 mins to make the sauce 🙂
Evelyn: This is really a quick and easy pasta dish. Hope it suits your family’s palate. 😉
I always love simple yet delicious dishes. This looks scrumptious with avocado sauce.
Angie (Angie’s Recipes): Do give it a try! 😉
Wat a fantastic,super delicious and mouthwatering dish.
Priya: Thanks!! 🙂
That’s such a healthy creamy sauce for pasta…creative! I don;t really know how to use up avocado except to make avocado drink with condensed milk.
MaryMoh: Maybe give this recipe a try so you will have one more interesting way to use avocado. 😉
Love how fast such healthy sauce could be made and how versatile it could pair with various ingredients. I have an appetite for it to go with pine nuts, broccoli and salmon now : ).
TasteHongKong: Love your creative combination!! 🙂
I already can’t wait to try this. I have a bag of avocados waiting for me to use! Never thought of using avocado for pasta. Sounds fun and delicious!
Nami (JOC): It’s a new discovery to me too. I was so excited when I first chanced upon this recipe. 😉
What a great idea in using Avocado! Love it.
Alice: It’s really a great choice for working mom like you. Do give it a try! 😉
This is a great idea and it’s definitely healthier. I’m thinking of intrducing it to my girl’s diet. Still thinking how to…
Little Inbox: Besides pasta, you can make dessert and drink too. You may like to check out these recipes from my blog. 🙂
My 2 girls loved avocado when they were babies but now just push it aside! I’m still a big fan. Lovely pasta dish.
Wowandspoon: Maybe this dish will win back their love for avocado. Do give it a try. 😉
We love avocado, but ever tried avocado with pasta. Sounds great! Must give it a go some time.
Christine’s Recipes: Yeah, for a change. 😉
5 minutes and no cooking? I ‘m sold. I usually use mashed avocado as spread on toast/sandwich + veggie omelette as sandwich filling.
Tigerfish: Unbelievable right? Must try, must try!! Thanks for sharing your way. I will give it a try. 😉
I had no idea that kids were so adverse to avocados. What a shame that is since avocados are one of life’s creamy-dreamy pleasures to eat. I can’t say I’ve ever tried avocado in a pasta sauce. But I can totally see how its lovely texture would lend itself to that.
Carolyn Jung: Maybe this will be a better and interesting way to introduce avocado to the kids. 😉
I think it might be because avocados used to be very expensive and parents tended to steer clear of it. my mom didn’t buy avocados at all when i was younger, and it was only recently that i bought some to experiment with, and to my surprise, it was really good! love how you styled the photos – the peas look like a good refreshing ‘pop’ to the creamy pasta!
Janine: Avocado used to be a very pricey fruit one decade ago. So, not many are willing to explore it. Luckily, my ex-colleague taught me how to use it. Thanks for your compliment! 😉
Yoges: I don’t recommend the method you mentioned. It’s better to consumer it as soon as possible to prevent the avocado being oxidized.
Great recipe!! Tried it with peas and bacon bits, and it was a success with my 18mth fussy eater girl and veg adverse hubby..haha!!
Luishu: Thanks for the feedback!! Wow!! I’m so so so glad to hear it!
Ms Low, What can i say? It’s so nice i cant believe myself for making this simple yet nutritious lunch for my son. Thank you very much for sharing so many wonderful recipes. You are my shi fu!!!
Ying: It’s my pleasure to share. So glad to hear such a sweet feedback! Thank you! Thank you! 😉
I dun know. I tried this recipe just now. The strong garlic taste seems spicy to me. I throw whole thing and made another breakfast for my son.
Lilis: Thank you for sharing your feedback. You may consider to cut down the amount of garlic in your next attempt. If you don’t like the taste of raw garlic, you can pan-fry lightly the garlic first before blending it with avocado. 🙂
This recipe is always a hit! Easy, fast and so so good. And I’m not even vegan!
Crissy: Thank you for your kind feedback!! So glad it suits your palate! 🙂
I didn’t think this would be good as I really hate avocaddo’s, but I thought I would at least try it, and this was actually quite good, and I will make again…
Tobius: Great to know that this dish has managed to change your perception about avocado. 🙂
Hi there, I am trying to get my daughter to put on weight as she’s only at the 3% at 22 months. I am thinking to try avocado on her.
You mentioned about dipping avocado sticks into mayo and toasted sesame. For that do you choose very ripe avocados? Also, is it you roast the sesame seeds in a pan and then add to the mayo? Is there particular brand of mayo that you use?
I am desparate to help my girl gain weight. So far she hasn’t liked any of the avocado smoothies or spreads I prepared. But I shall press on to try whatever I can find!
Thanks in advance 🙂
ACH: If the avocado is too ripe, the texture will be very soft and mushy. Yes, I dried fry (without oil) the sesame seeds in a pan first. I used to buy Kraft but can’t find it lately. I am using Waitrose now. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe, possible to freeze?
Kathy: No, I wouldn’t advise you to do so. 🙂