Creamy Avocado Pasta

Vegan, Estimated Total Cost: 50 cents, Serves 2 People, Total Time: 20 min

This dish is perfect for almost anyone. It is a vegan dish that is so simple and delicious you’ll find yourself making it all the time. Avocado is the perfect fruit to make creamy vegan sauces. When you add garlic and spices to it, it gives me the same satisfaction of a cream sauce without the animal products. This recipe, as written, is a very simple version of the recipe. You can change it up to fit your tastes, your needs, or to fit whatever is in your fridge and available to you! I like to add fresh basil to the sauce when I have it on hand. It makes it taste like a creamy pesto. I also like to add chopped zucchini to the pasta and mix that in with the sauce. Another small note: the lemon is not a necessary ingredient. I used it because I had lemon on hand! You can honestly make this sauce with just avocado, pasta water, salt, and pepper. It is completely up to you how you want to enjoy this recipe!

 

Ingredients

1 package spaghetti*

2 avocados*

1 lemon**

salt/pepper***

Olive oil***

Recommended: fresh basil

 

*free from OhSNAP

**free from Humboldt Mutual Aid produce stand

***purchased from grocery store

 

Other Items

Pot with strainer

Blender or mini blender

Serving dishes/utensils

 

Directions

  1. Start with boiling your pasta. I like to use about half of the package for two servings, or ¾ of the package for two big servings. I personally break my spaghetti noodles in half so they are easier to eat. Put the halved noodles in a pot and fill the pot with water until the noodles are covered by 2 inches or so. Add a few pinches of salt to the water.
  2. Make sure your burner is on high. While the pasta is boiling, start making the sauce. 
  3. Add the flesh of two avocados, the juice of half a lemon, a quarter cup of olive oil, and some garlic (a clove or so) to a blender. Blend until smooth.
  4. You will need to add some hot pasta water to this sauce periodically as you blend to help make it a smoother texture and more sauce-like. Use a spoon to put two spoonfuls of the hot pasta water into the blender with the other ingredients and blend.
  5. Keep adding spoonfuls of hot pasta water until you like the consistency of the sauce. I usually like my sauce on the thicker side. It will thin out when you mix it into the pasta.
  6. Once you are happy with the consistency of your sauce, add salt and pepper to taste.
  7. When your pasta is ready, drain it and put it back in the pot. Turn your burner off. The heat from the pot is enough to finish the dish.
  8. Add your avocado sauce to the pot of pasta and mix it all to evenly incorporate. 
  9. Serve hot. I added some parmesan cheese to mine. Without the cheese, this is 100% vegan!