VEGAN AVOCADO PASTA

It's time to reveal the recipe for one of my favorite dishes ever: avocado pasta.

What makes this avocado pasta so special? Some years ago it became a huge hit in Finland, everybody were making it! Now, every time I mention this, people wonder if avocado is a typical ingredient in the Finnish kitchen. NO, it definitely is not. Avocados are usually very expensive and hardly ever in their optimal condition, and that is probably one reason that makes this dish even more appealing for Finnish people. But, since I happen to live in Mexico, I'm going to enjoy this recipe as often as I possibly can. God bless avocados, seriously.

The original recipe is from a Finnish chef called Alexander Gullichsen, who, according to the story, made the pasta for his wife. So it's also some sort of a love story, and who doesn't like those!

Well, the couple has divorced ever since, but the pasta doesn't stop being insanely good! The original recipe is not vegan though, since it has two different types of cheeses in it, but no worries, I have pimped the recipe to be 100% plant-based, and, included a vegan parmesan recipe for you as well. Because as we all very well know, as cherry belongs on top of the cake, so does parmesan on top of pasta.

I have replaced the cheese in the recipe with nutritional yeast (levadura nutricional), a miracle ingredient that makes things taste like cheese. At the moment you can buy nutritional yeast (at least here in Mexico) in vegan stores and some ecological food stores (I bought mine in Bocados de Vida.) The vegan parmesan is also made using nutritional yeast, and another miracle ingredient, hemp seeds. Try it out and get surprised!

Here comes the recipe!


AVOCADO PASTA (2-3 servings)

250g spaghetti
2-3 avocados
2-4 cloves garlic
1-2 chilis
1 lime
1/2 cup fresh basil
2 tbsp olive oil
salt 
black pepper
1/2 nutritional yeast

1. Chop the garlic and chili peppers into small cubes and mix them in a bowl with the lime juice.
2. Cut the avocados into cubes, add them into the bowl and mix.
3. Add chopped basil, and nutritional yeast. Mix.
4. Cook the spaghetti al dente (1-2 minutes less than in the instructions). The boiling water should be as salty as sea water. Take 1/2 cup of the boiling water aside and add it into the bowl with other ingredients. Stir everything together.
5. Strain the spaghetti and add it into the bowl. Mix.
6. Finally add salt, pepper and olive oil. Sprinkle some parmesan on top of the served pasta right before eating. Enjoy right away!

VEGAN PARMESAN

1/2 cup hemp hearts
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

1. Put all the ingredients into a blender/food processor and blend lightly using the burst, for some 10-15 secs (or until desired consistency).
2. Store in a glass jar in room temperature up to 3 months.

CHERRY TOMATO PASTA SAUCE

So after making the fajitas the other day for dinner, I was left with some extra cherry tomatoes. And since I had not made any pasta for a while, today we had this cherry tomato pasta sauce for lunch. Approved!

The secret of this quite simple pasta sauce is not only the cherry tomatoes (that, yes, make the difference), but also the sun dried tomatoes, that give plenty of extra flavour. I also happened to have some red onion in the fridge, so instead of normal white onion, I used the red one.

All the other ingredients I had already as well. (Vegan chorizo in the freezer) The good part about this kind of food is that sometimes you might have all the ingredients already in your kitchen without really planning it. And that is why this pasta sauce makes it an excellent quarantine food too!

I used canned mushrooms just this once, that I also happened to have lying around, but if I could choose, I would advice to use the fresh mushrooms. In an emergency situation, canned mushrooms work just fine.

Here comes the recipe!

CHERRY TOMATO PASTA SAUCE (3-4 servings)

2 cups cherry tomatoes
1/2-1 red onion
3-4 cloves garlic
1 cup sun dried tomatoes
8-10 fresh mushrooms
150g vegan chorizo
350g tomato sauce
olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp fine herbs
1 tsp salt

+spaghetti (or other type of pasta)


1. Slice 1 cup of the cherry tomatoes in half with a knife (leave the other half for later). Chop the red onion, garlic, sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms into small cubes.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add all the chopped ingredients. Add the balsamic vinegar. Cook with medium heat for some 10-15 minutes under lid.
3. Add the vegan chorizo, all the spices and the tomato sauce. Cook for 10-15 minutes more in medium heat under lid.
4. Prepare the pasta with salt water, and once it's ready, pour out the water and add some olive oil.
5. Serve the pasta on plates, add the sauce and some fresh cherry tomatoes on top.

Did you try this recipe? Leave a comment and tell me how it turned out for you :)