Alligator Pasta

The other day I discovered a beautiful avocado in the market. Instead of preparing my usual guacamole, I wanted to combine this avocado with pasta. Inspired by my internet-research, I came up with the following recipe, which I call ‘alligator pasta’ because avocados are sometimes called alligator pear. I decided to mingle the avocado with feta, roasted garlic, cherry tomatoes, fresh thyme and yellow bell pepper.

“Nice, salad for dinner”, was my husband’s reaction when he saw me preparing this dish. He took it well that the salad turned out to be condiment for pasta. “It works astonishingly well with the feta, but I could do without the cherry tomatoes and the bell pepper”, was his response. I agree with him, but I also appreciate the extra vitamins, minerals and fibre from the added vegetables. By the way, I would be happy to read your comments. I would appreciate your effort.

Wishing you happy cooking, always!

Kornelia Santoro with family

 

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• 1 big, ripe avocado
• 1 packet (200 grams) feta
• 1 packet (500 grams) Italian pasta
• 75 grams butter
• 200 grams cherry tomatoes
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• any fresh herb you like
• 6 big cloves garlic
• salt
• pepper

Method:

Put a big pot with water on the fire to cook the pasta. Always salt the pasta water shortly before boiling. If you add the salt in the beginning, the water takes longer time to cook.

While the water is heating up, wash the cherry tomatoes and the bell pepper. Halve the tomatoes and cut the bell pepper into cubes. Wash and cut your herbs and place them together with the vegetables into a bowl. Salt and pepper the vegetables slightly and combine them well. Grate the feta cheese and keep aside.

Clean the garlic cloves and crush them. Melt the butter in a small pan and fry the crushed garlic until slightly brown. Be careful not to burn it.

When the water boils, add the pasta and cook according to the instructions on the packet. Drain the pasta, return it to the pot and mix it with the garlic butter. Add the grated feta cheese. Turn on the heat until the cheese melts. Keep a bit of feta aside for sprinkling over the top of the pasta.

Pour the pasta into the bowl with the vegetables and carefully blend it with the avocado-mix. You don’t want to end up with a mush. Sprinkle the rest of the feta over the pasta and serve immediately.