Avocado Pesto

I have to admit, when I first saw this recipe in my Cooking with Trader Joe’s Cookbook, I didn’t look twice. Avocado pesto sauce? That just sounds too weird. But with the heat that we’ve had here in Southern California, I was desperate to try anything that was easy to prepare and did not require turning on the oven.

I was surprised at how good this was! I LOVE pesto sauce….but I LOVE this avocado pesto sauce more and despite the green color my kids loved it too. I changed the recipe a little from the book by adding some shredded cheese. But I tried both ways and it was still good without the cheese.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pkg of noodles (I used spaghetti, but any pasta would work)
• 2 garlic cloves (peeled & diced)
• ¼ c lemon juice (about 1 small lemon)
• 2-4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium, ripe avocados (halved, peeled, and seeded)
• 1 c fresh basil leaves (approx 30 leaves)
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ½ c shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to the package.
2. While pasta is cooking, scoop avocado out of the peel and put into a blender or food processor with garlic, lemon juice, basil leaves and 2 tbsp of olive oil. Process until creamy adding the additional tbsps of olive oil if needed.
3. Drain pasta (don’t rinse) and toss with the avocado mixture and cheese in a large bowl until coated.

I had some left over and kept it in the fridge for lunch the next day. I wasn’t sure if it would turn brown but the lemon juice kept it green. It was even tasty cold! When the heat lets up I think I will roast some cherry tomatoes in the oven with a bit of garlic and olive oil to go with this. So stay tuned for an “update” post for this recipe!
I hope that you try this week’s recipe, it’s very tasty!!