Fresh and zesty pasta sauce

Jane Easton

Genius! The sauce is actually a salad that you add to hot pasta or grains – it melts the avocado a little and warms it all through. Yum yum.

There's more where this came from!

Try Veganuary

Ingredients

450g/1lb pasta – spaghetti or linguini work well, but feel free to experiment with other types, eg fusilli, penne, wholemeal noodles
2-3 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin if possible)
3 large cloves garlic
2 large, ripe avocados – the ready-to-eat variety are best
2 large ripe tasty tomatoes – eg ‘beefsteak’ variety
½ medium red chilli
15 fresh basil leaves, torn – a good handful
Zest and juice of a lime
Salt and lots of black pepper

Genius! The sauce is actually a salad that you add to hot pasta or grains – it melts the avocado a little and warms it all through. Yum yum.

Preparation

Serves 4

Options

For those who prefer large quantities of garlic to be cooked, sauté the garlic in some of the olive oil first. Then just mix it in with the chopped vegetables, herbs and pasta as below.
Replace avocados with strips of roasted red pepper – home-made or in a jar. You will need at least half a large jar. Roasted peppers are sold either in brine or in oil. If the former, drain well and do not add extra salt to the dish. If they are in oil, omit most of the oil in the recipe.

Greener Pasta!

Boil a kettle of hot water, pour it into your saucepan, add the pasta and a little salt. Bring to the boil, then switch off the heat and cover the pan with a well-fitting lid. The pasta will continue to cook in the hot water – in the usual cooking time but without using extra fuel. Stir occasionally to prevent clumping.

Method

Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions – or see our Top Tip above.
While the pasta is cooking prepare the rest of the dish.
If you are cooking the garlic, do so now. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a small frying pan and fry it gently for a minute or two, making sure it does not burn. Remove from heat – keeping any remaining oil – and set aside.
If using the garlic raw, crush and set aside.
Peel the avocados. Remove the stones and chop into chunks.
Chop the tomatoes into chunks.
De-seed the chilli and chop fine.
Drain the pasta and mix in the prepared vegetables.
Add the remaining olive oil, lime zest/juice and basil leaves. Season well.
Serve immediately.