Avocado & Basil Pasta
We have been in Malaysia for over a month now! Time has really flown by. Until yesterday, I had not had an avocado since we left California. I was seriously starting to go through withdrawals! Thankfully, Penang has avocados imported from Australia. We purchase our groceries and produce from two places: Cold Storage (a supermarket chain from Singapore) and our local ‘wet market’. Here in Malaysia, wet markets are the closet thing you’ll find to a farmers market. At our wet market there is a bountiful array of fresh fruits and veggies locally grown and imported from China. There is also a large assortment of meats, fresh from the farm and ocean (as you can imagine, we don’t need to walk through that part). Anyways, as I mentioned, I was craving avocados and had been waiting to try these recipes from two of my favorite vegan blogs Chef Cloe and Oh She Glows. I went to Cold Storage to pick up a couple of avocados and was shocked to see they were 6.99 RM each which is about $2.30! I just could not bring myself to spend that much money. The next day, we walked down to the wet market and found the same exact avocados from the same farm/importer for just 4.50 RM or $1.50. I know, still a bit pricy for this California girl, but I figured $3 to end my avocado withdrawals wasn’t too bad.
This recipe is incredibly easy and takes less then 30 minutes to make. I decided to leave out the olive oil because of all the natural, good-for-you fats in the avocados. I was surprised at how creamy the sauce turned out, you’d never guess that there was no dairy in it. And if you’re not a big fan of basil, you really don’t have to use too much. We like it, so I used a lot. Also, this pasta would be delicious if you had some cilantro or pine nuts lying around.
2 medium sized ripe avocados, pitted
1/2 lemon, juiced
2-3 garlic cloves or 1 tablespoon minced (to taste)
1/4 – 1/2 cup fresh basil
2 servings of your choice of pasta
salt (to taste)
fresh black pepper (to taste)
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Start by cooking your pasta, following the package’s directions. Meanwhile, start your sauce by placing the garlic, lemon juice, and basil into a food processer and process until smooth. Then add the avocados, salt, and pepper and process until smooth and creamy. Once your pasta is done cooking, drain in a strainer and place the pasta in a large bowl. Gently mix in your sauce with the pasta until fully combined. Serve immediately! Please note, because of the yummy avocados, this dish does not keep or reheat well. But I don’t think there will be any leftovers! Serves 2.
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