Normally I make guacamole, a spicy dip, with avocados. Or I half the fruit and just squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the flesh. Scooped out with a spoon this is an instantly gratifying treat. However, recently I found great avocados in the market and bought two kilograms. With this abundance I wanted to try something different.
On the internet I found many recipes for avocados, most of them originating in the United States of America. In California, avocado pie seems to be very popular. I even discovered a recipe for avocado-chocolate truffles. One day I will try my hand on this one.
First of all, I wanted to combine avocado with pasta. Inspired by my extensive internet-research I came up with the following recipe which I call 'alligator pasta'. 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.
Alligator Pasta
Ingredients (for 4 servings):
1 big, ripe avocado1 packet (200 grams) feta1 packet (500 grams) Italian pasta75 grams butter200 grams cherry tomatoes1 yellow bell pepperany fresh herb you like6 big cloves garlicsaltpepper
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.
Avocado - the healthy kind of fat
The name avocado has its origin in the Aztec word ahuacatl. The avocado tree has been cultivated in Central and South America since 8.000 BCE. During the 18th and 19th century, the avocado spread first to Jamaica and from there throughout the Asian tropical regions. The cultivation of avocado as a crop started in Florida and California at the beginning of the 20th century.
Although avocados have a lot of fat, they belong to the healthiest fruits of our planet. They should not miss in any healthy diet.
Avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that helps reduce 'bad' cholesterol levels and lowers the risk of breast cancer. In addition, it offers a lot of lutein, a carotenoid which enables the body to absorb nutrition from other food sources. If you add some slices of avocados to your salad, your body can make greater use of the nutrients in the salad.
The large amount of vitamin E in avocados boosts the immune system, keeps the skin healthy and prevents heart disease. The list of nutrients in avocados includes magnesium, vitamin C and vitamin B 6, folate, iron and potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure.
The author Kornelia Santoro manages a website called 'Kornelia's Kitchen', http://www.mediterraneancooking.in with a free monthly newsletter.
Living in India with a limited supply of ingredients has forced her to experiment with classical Mediterranean recipes. The result are easy, delicious dishes with ingredients you find everywhere.
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