meatless monday Archives - Page 9 of 10 - Pechluck's Food Adventures

April Fool’s Recipe for Spaghetti Pie

March 23, 2015 by Pechluck 12 Comments

I know April Fool’s Day, which is April 1, is not until next week, but next week is also Easter so I have to get this one done first!
Recipe for Spaghetti Pie for April Fool's day. It's a mashup between spaghetti and lasagna and a nod to the April Fool's joke of the Spaghetti Harvest in 1957

I admit the April Fool’s is a bit of a stretch here, since this looks like a pie yes, but it’s pretty clear it’s not any type of regular dessert pie. But, I like the call back to my favorite on the Wikipedia list of April Fool’s jokes, the BBC’s Panorama Programme reporting about spaghetti crops in Switzerland.

I was also inspired to make this Recipe for Spaghetti Pie by this great recipe by Bobcatsteph3, which itself is a copycat recipe for Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom’s Oh My Spaghetti Pie. The description on the Old Chicago website describes this as “This Old Chicago exclusive starts with spaghetti tossed in Alfredo sauce made from scratch daily with Parmesan, mozzarella, Romano and provolone cheeses, topped with even more cheeses and slow-baked to toasty perfection. Served by the slice over our house marinara.”

This is a dish I have never had, and also a restaurant that I’ve never been to, even having lived in Chicago, because it doesn’t actually exist in Chicago – the 3 locations in Illinois are in Peoria, Rockford and Champaign which are all significantly *outside* Chicago. There are 3 locations here in Portland though I’ve never been to any of those either! I’ve actually only seen Old Chicago when I’ve been in Colorado, which seems to be where they have the most franchise locations since they started out in Boulder in 1976.

While I respect the true alfredo used to make the pie in the BobcatSteph3 copycat recipe (and which Old Chicago Pizza probably makes in its own kitchen), the “calories, schmalories” concern me too much so I did a different white sauce. I could have used the cauliflower alfredo that I shared in a previous recipe post, but this time I tried a different cheese mixture that uses low fat ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan along with Tofutti Sour Supreme (or you can use light or regular Sour Cream). If that sounds like something you might put into a lasagna, that’s where I got my other part of this inspiration.
Recipe for Spaghetti Pie for April Fool's day. It's a mashup between spaghetti and lasagna and a nod to the April Fool's joke of the Spaghetti Harvest in 1957

And here I go again, making a savory pie (the last one I did was the bacon cheddar potato one using Michael Smith’s recipe). I think this pie serves 4-8 people depending on what else you are serving the slice on the plate with.

Recipe for Spaghetti Pie for April Fool's day. It's a mashup between spaghetti and lasagna so it's both creamy and tangy, and a nod to the April Fool's joke of the Spaghetti Harvest in 1957

Ingredients:

20 ounces of spaghetti noodles (I did not use all of my 13.5 Oz box), cooked to al dente and drained from pasta water. It will cook again when you bake it, and further soften so it’s ok for it to be less than al dente. I personally like wheat or veggie noodles so mine are not the same color as normal noodles
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese (about 8 ounces)
8 ounces ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
8 ounces Tofutti Sour Supreme (or you can use light or regular sour cream – I think using 1 beaten egg would work too as the binding agent here for the cheese)
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
4 cups of your own marinara sauce, be it from a jar or your version of homemade, your choice. I put quite a bit of red pepper in mine to make it spicy, you might consider adding mushrooms, or even your choice of crumbled meat if you don’t want it vegetarian

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.
While the pasta is cooking to al dente, mix together the 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella, all 8 ounces of the ricotta, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan aka 1/4 cup (you will use the rest of the mozzarella and Parmesan for topping later), and all the Tofutti Sour Supreme/sour cream, Italian Seasoning, basil, garlic, and to taste the salt and pepper.
Mix the cheese sauce to the al dente spaghetti until it is well incorporated, and then place the cheese and spaghetti into the greased pie plate.
Cover the pie dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the pie briefly to spread the rest of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese that is left on top of that pie and then bake for another 10 minutes until the cheese is all melty. If you wanted to, you could add a bit of panko or breadcrumb while adding the mozzarella and Parmesan topping if you’d like a bit more crunch.
After you remove your spaghetti pie, let it cool for at least 10 minutes so it can solidify and stay together when you cut your pie slices.

To serve, make a layer of the red marinara sauce onto a plate, and then on top of that serve a slice of the spaghetti pie, sprinkle with a bit of fresh basil chiffonode or chopped basil or some crispy fried sage if you’d like. Or add another layer of sauce on top of your pie!
Recipe for Spaghetti Pie for April Fool's day. It's a mashup between spaghetti and lasagna and a nod to the April Fool's joke of the Spaghetti Harvest in 1957 "Recipe

I usually see this dish served with a side salad and also some garlic bread, which you can use to further dip into the sauce. The key here is that this mashup lasagna spaghetti dish is a taste of both creamy cheesy white and tangy (and in my case spicy) red sauce. Plus you are having spaghetti but without having to slurp it up and get the sauce on your face and clothing.
Recipe for Spaghetti Pie for April Fool's day. It's a mashup between spaghetti and lasagna and a nod to the April Fool's joke of the Spaghetti Harvest in 1957

Are you doing or making anything for April Fool’s Day? Have you ever had Spaghetti Pie or been to Old Chicago Pizza?

Filed Under: Cooking, Food and Drink Tagged With: #foodiefriday, #MeatlessMonday, April Fool's Day food, April Fool's Food, April Fool's Recipe, Baked Spaghetti, Cheesy Spaghetti, lasagna pie, meatless monday, pasta pie, recipe, Spaghetti Hoax, Spaghetti Pie, Spaghetti with ricotta, vegetarian

Cauliflower Colcannon

March 16, 2015 by Pechluck 7 Comments

How I celebrated St Patrick’s Day this year, part 2. This is the vegetarian part.

The traditional Irish song… hear the famous Mary Black version here at Youtube

“Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?
With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream.
Did you ever make a hole on top to hold the melting flake
Of the creamy, flavoured butter that your mother used to make?”

The chorus:

“Yes you did, so you did, so did he and so did I.
And the more I think about it sure the nearer I’m to cry.
Oh, wasn’t it the happy days when troubles we had not,
And our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot.”

Cauliflower Colcannon

This Cauliflower colcannon recipe can still be served the traditional Irish way with a crater of melted butter in the middle
Usually this is made with potato and cabbage, but I decided to switch it out to cauliflower instead of potato because well, I love cauliflower, and I thought it was a better alternative with nutrients. We’ve used mashed cauliflower before instead of potato so it seemed natural it could be used in colcannon also, which is really just a variation of mashed potato with cabbage. This serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

4 cups of cauliflower florets – this was the florets from about a 2 1/3 pound cabbage
1 cup of 2 percent milk
4 tablespoons butter divided (3 tablespoons for the cabbage and 1 later for the combination into colcannon), plus more for serving. Ideally use Irish butter for serving!
1/2 of a small green cabbage (about half a 1 pound cabbage)
2 roasted garlic cloves, minced
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring cauliflower florets and milk to a simmer in large saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Cover pan and let the cauliflower soften, which might take 15 – 20 minutes depending on the size of your florets.
Meanwhile, with your half a cabbage, with the cut-side down, slice it as thinly as possible into shreds, and probably cut it into thirds after that so they are not so long (think like cole slaw for inside a sandwich). Melt the two tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and begins to brown. Season with the salt and pepper, to taste.
When the cauliflower milk mixture is soft enough that you can mush it, transfer contents of the pan a big bowl and then use a potato masher to mash it. After mushing the cauliflower, pour in the sauteed cabbage and butter from the skillet, add the minced roasted garlic, the last tablespoon of butter (this is optional depending on how much butter was left with the sauteed cabbage) and salt and pepper to taste, and mix until all is incorporated.
To serve the colcannon in the traditional Irish way, after you put your serving of cauliflower colcannon on the plate like a small mountain, push the back of a ladle down in the middle of each portion to make a crater in the middle. Think Crater Lake, and Mt St Helens. Now add a 1 little pat of butter into each of those craters, which should melt. Now each person eating the colcannon can scoop a little butter into each spoonful of colcannon.

I have seen variations of this recipe that swaps out the sauteed lettuce for kale, or for leeks, or may sprinkle a bit of cheese in, or horseradish. Instead of Irishing it up into a Colcannon, leave out the greens to make simple mashed cauliflower instead of your mashed potato for any meal – you don’t need it to be a holiday or St Patrick’s to enjoy this side dish. Anything you can do with mashed potatoes you can do here!
This Cauliflower colcannon recipe can still be served the traditional Irish way with a crater of melted butter in the middle
Have you had mashed cauliflower before? Or had or made colcannon?

Filed Under: Cooking, Food and Drink Tagged With: #MeatlessMonday, cauliflower and cabbage, cauliflower colcannon, cauliflower colcannon recipe, cauliflower recipe, cauliflower recipes, colcannon recipe, colcannon with cauliflower, healthier colcannon, healthier mashed potato, holiday vegetarian recipe, Irish food, mashed cauliflower, meatless monday, recipe, St Patrick's Day food, St Patrick's Day Recipes, vegetarian recipe, vegetarian recipes

Cauliflower Alfredo with Spinach

March 9, 2015 by Pechluck 8 Comments

I grew up eating a lot of Asian food, and I think it must not have been until late middle school or possibly even early high school that I first had Fettuccine Alfredo. My love for that creamy sauce on pasta lasted only until college, when I realized how many calories that Alfredo sauce actually contained.

Fortunately, I can still indulge in a pasta alfredo once in a while, but instead of the traditional alfredo sauce with cream and stick of butter and Parmesan, I would recommend this lightened up version of Cauliflower Alfredo with Spinach. I use spinach because I generally tend to have it in my kitchen, but you could use other greens or vegetables as well to further fill up the pasta dish. This dish serves 4 people as a side dish.

Ingredients:

3 cups small cauliflower florets
1 cup 2 percent low-fat milk
1 tablespoon of minced onion
8 ounces of pasta (I like using ones I can spoon, like this bow tie, so I can eat the whole thing with a spoon instead of slurping sauce on my face)
1 tablespoon olive oil (plus another 1 tablespoon if you want to saute/wilt your spinach before adding it to pasta, optional)
1 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping
2 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Couple handfuls of vegetables of your choice, such as two or three handfuls of spinach.
Salt to taste
Ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring cauliflower florets, milk and minced onion to a simmer in large saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Cover pan and let the cauliflower soften, which might take 15 – 20 minutes depending on the size of your florets.
When the cauliflower milk mixture is soft enough that your wooden spoon can mush it, transfer contents of the pan to food processor. Let it cool for a bit before you blend it into a sauce.
Meanwhile, while your cauliflower milk mixture is cooling before you process it, cook your pasta in a pot until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta water to help marry it with the cauliflower sauce later. Toss the pasta with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
I wilted the spinach slightly over heat with a little olive oil in that large saucepan I had just used for the cauliflower. But you can also toss it in raw as the hot pasta and sauce will also wilt it if your timing is right. You’ll just have to stir a lot depending on how generous your handfuls are until they get smaller.
Now to your pan, add the pasta,the cauliflower puree, the 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and nutmeg. Toss until the sauce coats pasta, adding reserved pasta water per your taste if mixture is clumpy and you want it to be smoother. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Serve your dish sprinkled with a little extra Parmesan and bit of pepper if you’d like. For a little heat, add a pinch of red pepper.
Cauliflower Alfredo with Spinach

I made it vegetarian, although I would understand if you might want to throw in a little protein via some chicken, or turkey, or maybe even some cut up sausage. If you miss a little of the fat of the alfredo, do a combination where instead of all 2% milk (I personally found skim or 1% too thin for me) you can make part of that cup a more full milk, Cream. And/or you could also consider at the end when mixing the sauce with the pasta adding some drizzle of Greek yogurt!

Filed Under: Cooking, Food and Drink Tagged With: #MeatlessMonday, Cauliflower Alfredo, Cauliflower Alfredo with Spinach, healthier Alfredo sauce, lighten up Alfredo sauce, meatless monday, vegetarian, Vegetarian Alfredo

Champagne and Sparkling Wine Food Pairings

March 5, 2015 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

For a Ladies Night get together with the theme of Bubbles (the beverage – such as champagne or sparkling wine) a couple weeks ago, I came up with a few ideas of what to pair the champagne or sparkling wine with. Here are three ideas, with 2 recipes!

Fried Chicken

I know, it’s shocking that this pairing doesn’t involve cheese!

For a small get together, you might consider fried chicken with the champagne! I had heard it was a hot thing, thanks to a restaurant called Birds & Bubbles in New York that was doing elevated southern comfort food. This high low combination is also endorsed by Lisa Dupar at her Redmond restaurant Pomegranate, Fried Chicken and Champagne is what she named her cookbook a few years ago.

Fried chicken tenders with Iron Horse Vineyards Commander's Palace Brut
The bubbly combination of carbonation and acidity is a great way to balance the rich heaviness of fried food, and it’s just fun. I went with chicken tenders so that we could be classy and not deal with chicken bones.

Cheddar Rosemary Gougeres

Cheddar Rosemary Gougeres dough, after forming it into the balls about 1 inch in order to make these cheesy puffs bite size to eat between sips of champagne or sparkling wine!
Then, I went with tried and true pairing with champagne and sparkling wine. A classic with bubbles is gougeres, light cheese puff bread appetizers. For mine, instead of gougeres I decided to use a combination of cheddar and rosemary. But, you could use any cheese, and you could use no herbs at all, or use another herb combination to your tastes.

The best part of the gougeres is that you can prepare it ahead of time and freeze it, and then on party day just pop them straight from the freezer into the oven and serve them warm, which is the best way to eat gougeres. I love party food that I can prep days ahead! And, they seem so fancy!

This recipe makes enough for about 48 of these appetizer sized, which is about an inch each to pop in between sips of champagne or sparkling wine, but you can also make them larger, say slider sized, and make mini sandwiches with them.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons of chopped rosemary (or other herb, or none at all)
1 cup grated Cheese (Cheddar, Gruyere, a combination of Goat with Blue… your choice)

Directions:

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat or aluminum foil. This recipe makes enough for two baking sheets worth, and I like to do them 1 sheet at a time so that I can bake the second one as we are down to the last warm ones from the first baking sheet! If you are not making them right away though, you can do two baking sheets at the same time since you are freezing the gougeres dough anyway, if both baking sheets fit in your freezer.
First, we will make the pate a choux dough, which is the starter for any puffy pastries, and is just milk, butter, flour, salt. So let’s start! Heat the milk and the 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to keep the bottom from burning. When the butter and milk is simmering, remove from the pot from heat. Now all at once, add the 1 cup flour, teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper all at once. Stir well to combine the mixture – I used my handy silicone spatula, one of my favorite kitchen tools. Return the pan to medium heat and stir hard for 1 to 2 minutes to add as much air bubble as you can, stir until the mixture thickens and becomes stiff.
Transfer the mixture to stand mixer with the paddle attachment. I mixed the dough at low speed for a few minutes, watching the steam rise from the bowl, in order to cool it and get more bubbles into the mix. Once I didn’t see any more steam, I knew it was time for the eggs. In a separate small bowl, break the 4 eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork. Now add the egg 1/4 at a time, with the mixer beating the egg and mixture at medium speed each time until the egg you just poured in is fully incorporated into the dough.
So now that we have the pate a choux dough, it’s now on us to add our creative extras for flavor. For this recipe, add the cheese and rosemary to the dough mixture and stir it all together until the ingredients are well distributed.
Some people now transfer the mixture to a pastry bag and pipe the gougeres circles, but I still don’t have a tip (I suppose I could always use a big ziploc with a corner cut though), so I used use two teaspoons that I wetted with water in order to make small little balls from the dough. I made mine very small, about 1 inch in diameter, appetizer size. If you want to make little sliders, make them 4 inches. Make sure you leave at least enough to fit another ball in between each of your dough balls because when they bake, they will spread out and get stuck to each other. In my photo below, I was about to freeze them, otherwise I would have spaced them much farther apart.
At this point, I just froze the balls to the baking sheets, and once frozen just put them in freezer bags. Or skip to
To bake them, preheat the oven to 425 F. I put two baking sheets on top of each other in order to insulate the bottoms from the heat of the oven so it wouldn’t brown as much. You don’t need to defrost the dough – I just lined them all up and into the oven they went! Bake the tray for 12 minutes, and then lower the heat to 375 F. Now bake for another 10 to 12 minutes more – make sure you check on them so they don’t brown at the bottom! You want it golden all over.

Before serving, let them cool for a few minutes, and then serve warm!
Cheddar Rosemary Gougeres dough, after forming it into the balls about 1 inch in order to make these cheesy puffs bite size to eat between sips of champagne or sparkling wine!

Apple Slices with Brie and Walnut and Honey or Agave Nectar

Red and Green Apple Slices with a bit of Aloutte Smoked Bourbon Brie, Walnut and Agave Nectar
I happened to use Aloutte Smoked Bourbon Creme de Brie, but you can use any brie you want, it doesn’t need to be flavored. The plus of using Aloutte Creme de Brie is that I didn’t have to deal with any rind, and could go right into spreading the cheese.
Red and Green Apple Slices with a bit of Aloutte Smoked Bourbon Brie, Walnut and Agave Nectar
I personally also chose to use Agave Nectar instead of honey. I used red and green apple slices, it’s your choice on what kind of apple exactly you want to use. And, no one will judge you if you happen to buy those pre-sliced apples either.

Ingredients:

7 Red and Green Apples, sliced. Or just use one color, or more colors, your choice.
5 ounces of Brie – spreadable brie is easiest, but you can also use any brie as long as you do not use the rind
1/4 pound of walnuts
Honey or Agave Nectar

Directions:

It’s ridiculously easy- slice the apples, smear a bit of brie, top with the walnut and agave nectar or honey.

Red and Green Apple Slices with a bit of Aloutte Smoked Bourbon Brie, Walnut and Agave Nectar

To serve – I alternated the colors of red and green apple for fun.
Red and Green Apple Slices with a bit of Aloutte Smoked Bourbon Brie, Walnut and Agave Nectar

Which of these pairings with champagne or sparkling wine intrigues you?

And here’s the damage from a dozen ladies that night…

A photo posted by Pechluck Laskey (@pechluck) on Feb 20, 2015 at 9:23am PST

Filed Under: Cooking, Food and Drink Tagged With: #MeatlessMonday, Alouette Smoky Bourbon Creme de Brie, Aloutte Smoked Bourbon Creme de Brie, Apple Brie Appetizers, Apple Brie with Honey Walnut, Apples and Cheese, Bubbles and Appetizers, Champagne food, Champagne Food Pairing, Cheddar Gruyeres, Cheddar Rosemary Gruyeres, Easy party snacks, Fried Chicken and Champagne, Gougeres recipe, Make ahead party snacks, meatless monday, Party Appetizers, party food, Party Planner, Party Snacks, Sparkling Wine food, Sparkling Wine Food Pairing, Sparkling Wine Food Pairings, vegetarian

Avocado Pesto and more Avocado Awesomeness

June 30, 2014 by Pechluck 5 Comments

Today is June 30, which marks the last day of June and therefore the last day of California Avocado Month. Of course, just because it’s the end of the celebratory month doesn’t mean you can’t keep using and enjoying avocados, particularly since California avocado season runs approximately from the middle of April through the middle of September. So you have plenty of time STILL ahead to enjoy the awesomeness of avocados.

As part of the celebration of California Avocado Month, the California Avocado Commission (CAC) worked with 15 chefs across the country to help inspire more ways to incorporate avocados in your meals. In Portland, the chef on this list is owner and chef Lisa Schroeder of Mother’s Bistro.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a dinner where Chef Lisa was creating a dinner menu with every food item featuring avocados in some way. More on that in just a little bit. I need to share how much I adore avocados.

I’m a big fan of avocados – I’ve shared recipes on this blog before for various versions of guacamole (the “gateway” to avocados and great for those who are just being introduced to avocados), as well as an avocado mac and cheese that included other green things like lime and jalapeno and green onions and cilantro matched up against Beecher’s Cheddar.

Yet another recipe you might consider for this summer is Elote Pasta Salad that upgrades pasta salad with roasted corn, cotija and avocado. Or try Vegetarian Hummus Avocado Tomato and Greens Sandwich and/or a Buffalo Blue Cheese Chicken Salad with Avocado and Greens Sandwich, both which I packed for a picnic!

And of course, I’ve enjoyed avocados made by others in many wonderful ways, varying from sushi, slicing them and including them in a wrap (even a DIY Vietnamese summer roll) or at breakfasts via the traditional way as part of Eggs Benedict or with a Mexican breakfast dish that could be a breakfast burrito or in this case, Migas (a flour tortilla stuffed with 3 chipotle-cumin scrambled eggs, chorizo sausage, Tillamook cheddar, fresh basil, homemade salsa and sour cream and then served with fresh avocado salsa). Yum right??

And avocados are always welcome in a large variety of sandwiches or salads… Possibilities are endless.

And then, of course, there was this incredible Avocados Dinner by Chef Lisa Schroder to promote California Avocados that I attended. The menu included

Lucy Brennan’s Avocado Daiquiri
Hors D’Oeuvres of Avocado, Pink Grapefruit and Dungeness Crab Cocktail and also Guacamole-filled Cherry Tomatoes!

For the recipe for the Pink Grapefruit Avocado Crab cocktail, check Je Mange Le Ville’s avocado post from this event. Also for tips on using avocados check out the blog of Urban Bliss Life for her avocado dinner coverage which includes a video of Lisa demonstrating how to cut avocados!
Butter Lettuce, Avocado and Green Onion Salad with lemon vinaigrette
Entree of Grilled Chicken Breast with sauteed onions and peppers topped with avocado and salsa, served with a Macaroni and Cheese with bacon, avocado, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and topped with cotija cheese and green onions
Dessert of Avocado Lime Pie in a graham cracker crust topped with fresh Oregon strawberries and whipped cream

Clearly I have been enjoying avocados for a while, though I don’t think it was until I went to college that I first tried them. I remember when I first moved out on my own after college, I even bought a special avocado slicer (though that has since been lost among many moves. My relationship with avocado has prospered without it.)

Some people say that it is a texture thing with the avocados, which is why they don’t like them… but maybe I partially don’t believe that this can’t be conquered. I have rallied to have people try tofu or blue cheese before in recipes successfully, and I think I can do the same with avocados.

One clever way might be this Avocado Pesto recipe I threw together with one of the avocados generously gifted to me by the California Avocado Commission. One of the bunch of avocados was already ripe, and this is a 1 avocado recipe so you don’t have to shell out a lot to try this out. And, it whips up together in minutes with a food processor making the sauce so that by the time the pasta is cooked, you are ready to eat!

In this pesto pasta recipe, the avocado feels creamy, almost like a light alfredo sauce or cheese sauce, but MUCH MUCH HEALTHIER. After all, an avocado contributes nearly 20 vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients while being sodium and cholesterol free and a source of the good, monounsaturated fat that helps lower your LDL cholesterol levels.

Avocado Pesto Recipe

Ingredients:

1 box of pasta (about 14 ounces). I picked vegetable macaroni pasta here, but you can use spaghetti or any kind you’d like
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 small garlic cloves
Juice of 1/2 a lemon, about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup of freshly cut basil
1/2 teaspoon of salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper or to taste
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated, plus optionally more for serving
1/4 cup of milk
1 pinch – 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)
A few pinches of cheddar cheese for topping/serving (optional)

Directions:

Boil water and cook your pasta until al dente as you normally would. This usually means for me boiling a pot of water with a pinch of salt, and then once it is boiling I add the pasta and a quick drizzle of olive oil. This cools the water and I wait for it to come to boiling again and once it does so, after a few minutes I check to see whether it is al dente.
While the water is coming to a boil/the pasta is cooking, in a food processor mix in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the garlic. Process these together first until the garlic is basically chopped.
Now, add in the lemon juice, spoon in the avocado (leaving out the skin and pit), the 2 tablespoons of basil, salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Process everything until smooth.
Finally, add the milk and process again until fully mixed. Depending on the size of your avocado or your taste, you may want to adjust the salt or pepper or Parmesan until the flavor is to your liking. I know my avocado was large, and I added more Parmesan.
When the pasta is ready, drain the water from the pasta and then mix in this avocado pesto sauce and optionally the red pepper flakes until everything is well combined. Top optionally with cheese of your choice and enjoy!

I added 1 teaspoon of red pepper to my pasta so I could enjoy a little heat, but you can feel free to add just a pinch instead, or ignore all together. Optionally, you can also top with freshly ground pepper and a few pinches of cheddar to reinforce the “cheesiness” of this creamy pasta dish/trick someone into eating avocado. You can also get inspired like the Mac and Cheese of the Avocado Dinner and add textural and flavorful fun with bacon!

When you go out to purchase Avocados, look for the sticker and that the word “California” is on the label that proves the avocado is from California rather than from overseas. A few interesting facts:

Did you know that California produces approximately 90% of the nation’s avocado crop?
California avocados are hand-grown on approximately 5000 small family farms throughout central and southern California
There are 7 varieties of avocados in California, with Hass accounting for 95%: the rest of the avocado varieties are named Bacon, Fuerte, Gwen, Lamb Hass, Pinkerton, Reed, and Zutano.
The Hass tree was actually patented (the first patent on a tree) but the patent had run out by the time Hass avocados started to become popular.
All the Haas avocados are descended from one original Hass Mother Tree from the 1920s. Check here for the story of the Hass Mother Tree!

For more on avocados, check out the California Avocado social media channels on Facebook California Avocados, Pinterest CA_Avocados Boards that are chock full of recipes, Instagram @CA_Avocados, Twitter handle @CA_Avocados, or the Youtube channel California Avocados.

Disclosure: I attended a complimentary dinner and demonstration promoting California Avocados by the California Avocado Commission and Mother’s Bistro. They did not require I write this post and I have been loving avocados way before this dinner. I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

Filed Under: Cooking, Food and Drink, Sponsored Post Tagged With: avocado, Avocado and Green Onion Salad with lemon vinaigrette, avocado in a salad, Avocado Lime Pie, avocado mac and cheese, Avocado Pesto, avocado recipes, avocado sandwiches, Butter Lettuce, California Avocado Commission (CAC), California Avocado Month, California Avocado social media, easy avocado pasta, Grilled Chicken Breast with avocado, Guacamole, Guacamole-filled Cherry Tomatoes, healthy eating, healthy mac and cheese, Lisa Schroeder, Lucy Brennan's Avocado Daiquiri, Macaroni and Cheese with avocado, meatless monday, mother's bistro, pasta salad, Pink Grapefruit and Dungeness Crab Cocktail, vegetarian

April Fool’s Recipe for Spaghetti Pie

Cauliflower Colcannon

Cauliflower Colcannon

Cauliflower Alfredo with Spinach

Champagne and Sparkling Wine Food Pairings

Fried Chicken

Cheddar Rosemary Gougeres

Apple Slices with Brie and Walnut and Honey or Agave Nectar

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