Monday, April 30, 2007

Heart of the matter #3 - Pasta with Avocado & Cashew Pesto

avocadocashewpesto

I got this delightul idea from Johanna - I switched some things, and simplified the already simple method, and used some fresh sage instead of all basil as my basil looked so dull and my sage so beautiful. (And isn't that what should really inspire us to cook - what fresh produce happens to be available?) I used a little less olive oil, and just a bit of parmesan - which makes it suitable for Ilva's event "Heart of the matter". Heart-friendly dishes are always good to know, and this month's theme happens to be pasta. How convenient! And let me assure you that this dish is perfectly delicious!

Pasta with avocado & cashew pesto
Serves 2

60 g raw cashew nuts
2 cloves of garlic
2 tiny dried chillis, or a pinch of dried chilli flakes
10-15 basil leaves
5-6 sage leaves
1 avocado
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt
squeeze of lemon
small handful of parmesan, grated

Toast the nuts in a warm pan until they are golden and fragrant. Move to the bowl of a food processor, add the garlic cloves and blitz away. Add chilli and the herbs - blitz again. Add the avocado, in pieces, and mix some more. Add olive oil to loosen it up a bit, add some salt, and a little bit of lemon. Finally, add the parmesan.

Serve with freshly boiled pasta - and save some of the pasta water to loosen up the dish, the pesto can be a bit difficult to blend into the pasta if you don't.

Recipe in Swedish:
Pasta med cashewnötter och avocado

9 comments:

Jessica said...

neat. I love avocado... Will have to substitute the cashews though (allergy). Any ideas? I am fine with pine seeds/nuts. Is/was it the flavour of the cashews that you were after?
Oh and I haven't forgotten about the cakes, things have just been well too much.

Anne said...

Jessika - you can definitely use pine nuts! Cashews is just a nice variation - slightly different flavor. Maybe use a little less pine nuts, they taste a bit more. And of course I understand, you've had way too much to deal with! Still looking for the chocolate - apparently Finefood hasn't had a delivery from them in a while..

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

That sounds good! I have never thought of trying avocado with pasta before.
Sounds better than the pea pesto I passed on to Catherine at Albion Cooks
Holler

Brilynn said...

The avocado would have made it nice and creamy, sounds great!

Ilva said...

Thanks Anne! It-s a great idea!

winedeb said...

Always looking for something new and you hit it today. And most of all it seems very simple yet elegant. Ann my list to prepare!
As usual, nice photo.

Elizabeth said...

What a great combination! I will try this recipe. Thanks!

Pika said...

Superb idea for myself and my husband - we love all of the ingredients by themselves, but this pesto was just something more. Anne THX!!

Anonymous said...

Hey - I love varying pesto, its so gorgeous and versatile .... and avocado in pesto - genius. I'm going to add cream cheese ..... extra guilt factor. Thanks!!

p.s - try pistachio, feta, lime and sun-dried tomato pesto - yum.