creamy avocado pesto pasta salad

yes. you read that right. it’s avocado pasta.

bring on the green!

it’s almost summer, aka the season of PASTA SALADS! this is like my kitchen superbowl. i love pasta salads because not only do you get that hearty, satisfying pasta meal, but you get the freshness and color of veggies, without feeling like you need a 10 hour slumber to recover from it. and just like salads, it’s easy to ADD. meaning you can load up your pasta with your favorite protein, veggies, or sauce options to customize it to your taste. there’s so many possibilities, you may even find yourself looking at an avocado too long and plotting ways to incorporate it somehow…

why avocado?

avocado is not only a great source of healthy fats, but its soft texture is perfect for a creamy pasta sauce! i was inspired by recipes using silken tofu to buff up their sauces (something i need to try!) and found that avocado reaches a similar consistency. the vibrant green can give your pesto that extra color that looks almost suspiciously bright. no food coloring here folks! turns out i’m not the first, 10th, or even 100th person to think of this idea. the mild flavor makes it a great component to thicken up sauces, without drastically changing the flavor profile, or adding dairy-based creams that can sit heavier in your stomach. it’s a healthier (and arguably prettier!!) alternative to your typical cream pasta.

ingredients & substitutes

• pasta – the great thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever pasta shape your heart desires! i tried it with both spaghetti noodles and short pasta. i would recommend the shorter pasta for more a better mix at the end, but it’s truly all up to your own preference.
• avocado – clearly, the star of the show is Avocado. you want to make sure the avocado you are using is ripe and slightly soft to the touch. we don’t want any firmness as it can defeat the whole purpose of our cream substitute!
• pesto – i’m using the bear pond farm “premium basil pesto” from whole foods. this is one of my favorite store-bought pestos because of its thick consistency and vibrant color. it’s also nut-free for those of you who have allergies! however, it’s on the pricey side. but any store-bought pesto should work! heck, you can even blend your own pesto recipe if you’re feeling adventurous. i don’t have a blender though… so that’s that.
• cherry tomatoes – the perfect addition to take it from a regular pesto pasta to a fresh pasta salad! if you’re not a tomato fan (me 5 years ago), try replacing with red grapes. sounds kinda sus at first, but they both have that pop of sweetness that’s a staple to a summer salad.
• mozzarella – i’m using mini mozzarella balls that are nearly the same size as the cherry tomatoes. if your mozzarella is larger, you can rip it into bite-size pieces for a better mix. you can also replace fresh mozzarella with crumbled feta for a stronger flavor.
• shredded chicken – if you have any leftover shredded chicken, it makes a great protein addition! i shredded and froze a costco rotisserie chicken awhile back and it’s my favorite thing to add to salads. other delicious protein options that pair well are shrimp or a poached egg.

plating, presentation and storage

depending on your pasta shape of choice, you have some options with plating. i find that when using the long spaghetti noodles, mixing it up can be difficult. so i opted to toss the pasta with just the sauce while arranging the rest of the ingredients on the side like a salad. less of “pasta salad” and more like “pasta and a salad.” for shorter pastas, toss everything together for your classic pasta salad experience.

eat within 1-2 days. since we use fresh avocado for this, the longer it sits in the fridge, the more likely it is to brown. the lime juice helps prolong it a day or two more, but the arugula/spinach will also turn soggy. i haven’t tried freezing it yet, but i would be weary of how that changes to consistency of the sauce.

but trust me when i say this meal is so good you likely won’t have to worry about storing it too long!

how-to:

prep work — begin by salting and boiling water for your pasta. use a medium size pot that provides enough room to mix all your ingredients together at the end, we don’t want to wash more dishes than necessary! wash your cherry tomatoes and arugula and pat dry.

cooking — once the water is boiling, add in your pasta of choice and cook until al dente, following the package instructions. while the pasta cooks, remove the seed from your avocado and scoop the fruit into a medium size bowl. make sure your avocado is ripe and slightly soft! this will give you the best consistency. mash the avocado with a spoon or fork until smooth and creamy. add pesto, lime juice, and a few cracks of salt and pepper and mix. if you have a food processor or blender, you can skip these steps and add all the sauce ingredients to the machine and blend until smooth. drain the pasta, reserving about 4 tablespoons of pasta water. add the pasta back to the pot with the pesto mix, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, arugula, and (optional) shredded chicken. mix everything together using pasta water to thin it out.

serve — season with a few more cracks of salt and pepper, a pinch of shredded parmesan, and enjoy!

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