Avocado Pasta ( Vegan recipe )

This is another super simplistic pasta recipes that I stumbled upon while surfing the net. Love cooking pasta on my lazy days as it takes very less effort to put together something so tasty. It is one of those high ROI recipes. If you have a ripe avocado on hand, you will easily find the rest of the stuff that goes with it from your kitchen cabinets.

Read on -

Preparation Time - 10-12 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup durum wheat pasta
• 1/2 of a ripe avocado
• 3-4 Italian basil leaves (optional)
• 2-3 garlic flakes
• 1 1/2 EVOO
• salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper

Preparation - Scoop out the avocado flesh. Roughly chop up and transfer to a blender. Add the garlic flakes, basil leaves, EVOO and a pinch of salt. Ground into a smooth paste.

Cooking - Boil water in a large saucepan. Add salt once you can see the bubbles coming up.

Throw in the pasta as it gets to a rolling boil. Cook till al-dente.

Drain off the water from the pasta ( but retain about  1/2 a cup for thinning the avocado puree if required ).

Transfer the pasta to a dish. Add the avocado puree and 2-3 tsp pasta water. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper. Toss up and serve immediately.

Tastes best when warm. (Do not re-heat)

Note - One can also add a bit of tang by mixing 1/3 tsp lemon juice/sour cream/hung yogurt with the puree.

Spaghetti al Limone

I love paste recipes that are simple and light with just the right amount of spice. That is why I was delighted to come across the recipe for pasta al limone, i.e., pasta seasoned with lemon. But when I looked up still more, I could find wide discrepancies in the seasonings used in most recipes with the exception of perhaps olive oil, cheese, lemon and basil ( just one recipe used parsley ). So, I added a bit of my own to it. Cheese, lemon juice and mayonnaise with a hint of basil make for the most mind-blowing combination is what I discovered in process.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 150 gm spaghetti
• 2 garlic flakes (finely chopped)
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1/5 tsp chilli flakes
• 3 tbsp grated cheese
• 1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise
• juice of one lemon
• grated rind of one lemon
• 7-8 fresh Italian basil leaves
• freshly ground pepper as per taste
• salt to taste

Preparation - Take the chilli flakes, cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice, lemon rind, 1 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk together.


Cooking - Boil 8-9 cups water in a large saucepan. Add salt when it comes to a boil. As it gets to a rolling boil, throw in spaghetti. Cook for 12 mins or till aldente ( stir 2-3 times in between ).

After the spaghetti has cooked for 9-10 mins, heat a wok. Add the olive oil and as it warms up, throw in the garlic pieces. Allow it to just turn light brown. Remove and keep aside.

Drain the spaghetti while retaining about 1/2 cup of liquid. Add some of this liquid to the mixing bowl containing the cheese-mayo mix.

Transfer the spaghetti back into the saucepan. Add the olive oil-garlic and toss a bit. Add the contents of the mixing bowl along with some basil leaves and crushed pepper. Toss well.

Serve immediately.

Minty Farfalle-Potato Salad

As much as I love pasta, I find it difficult to cook/eat some during the hot summers. Even if the sauce is a no cook one like in case of Sicilian Pasta, it leaves me all hot and stuffy. But the last time I made some chilled potato salad, it stuck me that if i could add some cooked pasta to it and throw in a few other raw veggies, then I would have a salad cum complete meal on my hands.

Also, it is served chilled which is very soothing in the heat. I have omitted ingredients like garlic and pepper as they cause a lot of heat and are best avoided during the summers. Add some bell celery/peppers/broccoli to make it more colorful and healthy.Read on:

Preparation Time - 20-25 mins (15-18 mins is standby time)

Ingredients -

• 1 cup Farfalle (uncooked)
• 1 medium size potato
• 1 small cucumber
• 1 cup roughly chopped lettuce
• 8-10 mint leaves (roughly torn)
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp hung curd
• 1/4 tsp paprika/red chilli powder
• 2 pinch chili flakes (optional)
• 2 tbsp grated cheese (optional)
• salt to taste

Cooking - Bring 7-8 cups of water to a boil. Add sufficient salt to it so that it tastes quite salty.
Add the pasta and cook till tender ( for a cold salad it is better to overcook the pasta as it tends to harden a bit in the fridge...so make it a bit more than just al-dente). Mine took 15 mins to cook.

Drain and keep aside. Add 1/2 tsp olive oil and toss to prevent them from sticking to each other. Allow to come to room temperature.

Cook the potato for 1-2 whistles at the same time. Remove from pressure cooker once steam is released and allow to come down to room temperature(put in cold water to expedite the process). Peel and cut into small cubes.

Peel and chop cucumber into similar sized small pieces.

Take the mayonnaise, olive oil, hung curd, paprika, salt and grated cheese in a mixing bowl. Gently whisk to mix all of it.

Add the farfalle, potato, cucumber and lettuce to bowl. Mix and evenly coat all the ingredients. Put in the fridge for 15-20 mins to cool a bit.

Sprinkle some chili flakes and serve cold.

Note - Replace the mint with parsley/basil and you have another quick and easy variation. It does make a huge difference in taste/flavor.

Sicilian Pasta

I love pasta. And I love it even more if the sauce is a 'no-cooking' one. Caught this on 'Nigellissima' on Fox Traveller last week. The original called for Anchovies and capers but i skipped the former and substituted the latter with tender mangoes pickled in brine. Also I substituted 'Fusilli Lunghi' with my normal Borges Spaghetti.

Read on for the recipe:

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients - 100 gms spaghetti, 1 very ripe tomato, 7-8 blanched almonds, 2 soaked tsp raisins, 2 peeled garlic flakes, 2 tender pickled mangoes, 2 tsp olive oil, salt for boiling the pasta, fresh basil leaves for the garnish.

Cooking - Boil a large quantity of water in a open mouthed vessel. Add loads of salt to it when it starts boiling ( It should taste 'like the sea' as mentioned in some website whose name I have forgotten ).

Add the spaghetti and cook it till al-dente ( tender but still with a bite ).

Transfer the tomato, raisins, almonds, garlic flakes, pickled mangoes and olive oil to a mixer jar. Grind into a little coarse paste. (I ended up with a little smooth than intended)

Add 2-3 tsp of the boiling pasta water to the grinder jar and pulse 2-3 times.

Drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the sauce on top of it and toss everything together. Strew the basil on top and dig in. (Perfect for one of those lazy days....which are beginning to get just too frequent in my case)