Creamy Avocado Pasta | Plant Based Recipe

Ingredients 

• 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)

Directions:

1. 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).
2. Drain the pasta but reserve 4 tbsps of pasta water. Return pasta to the pot with the water.
3. 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.
4. 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:

1. Add one extra teaspoon for more lemony taste.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. This dish needs to be served immediately as it does not reheat well due to the avocado in the sauce.

Originally appeared on: http://food-4tots.com/