Pesto Pasta is one of my favourites, this recipe is variation of classic pesto pasta. I love avocados and prefer to add them to different recipes to increase the content of healthy fats. Our body requires 25% to 35 % of fats to absorb fat soluble nutrients like Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E and Vitamin K. Why not to fill this requirement with these nutrient filled avocados.
Opting for whole wheat pasta ensures more nutritional value in the diet as they are less processed and contains 3 parts of the grain – the bran, the germ and the endosperm.
Broccoli is another super food which is a great vegetarian source for macronutrients.Broccoli contains more protein per calorie than steak . I prefer adding vegetables to my pasta in order to make it a balanced meal. You can add vegetables of your choice to it.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 30 gms fresh basil
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1/4 cup olive oil Extra Virgin
- 1 Ripe Avocado halved, seeded, and peeled
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp. salt or to taste
- 1 lb. Whole wheat pasta or your choice
- 2 tbsp. Avocado oil
- 2 cups Brocolli
- 1 zucchini halved and sliced
- 6 Cloves garlic minced
- 12 Oz. Cherry Tomatoes halved
- 1/2 tsp. Ground fresh pepper or to taste
- salt to taste
Ingredients
Avocado Pesto Sauce
Pasta
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- Rinse basil leaves and remove leaves from stems; Discard stems. Dry up the basil with a cloth or in air.
- Blend basil leaves, pine nuts, avocado, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt and olive oil together in a blender. Pulse until finely chopped.
- Take a large pan or pot , fill it up with water , season it with little bit of sea salt and few drops of oil and bring to a rolling boil.
- Add pasta to the pot of boiling water and cook pasta according to the pasta package directions. Drain.
- In a saucepan , heat avocado oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for a minute. Add zucchini , broccoli and salt to taste . Stir and cook until fork tender, about 5 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes to it, gradually stir for a minute and remove from heat.
- Add pasta to the vegetables and then add and stir in avocado pesto sauce so that the pasta is well coated. Add fresh ground pepper and salt to taste (if required)
- Serve slightly warm in a bowl.
That looks so delicious! And healthy too! I really love the idea of the avocado pesto sauce, definitely going to make this recipe for the family. Thanks so much for sharing. Cheers, Karen http://kdforsman.com
Glad you like the recipe.
Beautiful article and irresistable recipe, Prachi! I must try it. I do have a few questions, however. I’ve always enjoyed pesto, but I’ve not been a fan of pine nuts; are pine nuts always an important pesto ingredient?
Also, I’m trying to increase my coconut oil intake for health reasons – is avocado oil essential in this recipe, or could I substitute coconut oil?
In any case, I really appreciate this work – do keep it up!
Thanks Steve! If you don’t like pine nuts, you can use walnuts instead, they also give it a nice taste and texture. You can definitely use coconut oil but it might change the flavour a little bit.
The recipe makes me hungry. I love avocado and will eat it with just about anything. I have never used avocado oil so I will endeavor to pick up one when next I go shopping.
It is easy to follow the recipe
I know Broccoli is nutritious but I really did not know to what extent. Now that I have read your post I am confident that I am doing the right thing by eating a lot of Broccoli.
Your recipe is very helpful
Thanks 🙂
This looks yummy. I will follow the substitutions that you suggested above, as avocado oil is super expensive where I live. I will leave out the pasta as we are trying to remove grains from our diet, and I will use more broccoli. Do you think I should cut back the amount of sauce that I make?
Thank Irma, You can also use any other cooking oil like canola or whatever you use at home for cooking. If you are removing grains from your diet, you can use Zucchini Spirals instead. i will soon posting up a recipe with Zucchini Spirals keep checking the posts. You need to cut back the amount of sauce if you are neither using pasta nor anything like Zucchini spirals.
This sounds absolutely amazing! I love avocado and I love finding recipes that include them! I will definitely be adding this to my list of to try meals! Thank you for the post! : )
Glad you liked the recipe.:)