Oh, it is finally getting hot in Rome…. How are you managing? It is still bearable at night, but I am waking up at four A.M. or so, hot and thirsty. The metro is hot and co-travellers sometimes odiferous, and the heat radiates off the pavements. By the time I get home, plans for dinner are reduced to prosciutto e melone, or caprese, or like yesterday, the luxury of fresh ravioli from the excellent shop downstairs. The kitchen is too hot to linger long in, but we do need some proper meals now and then. The question: What is quick, light, and tasty? This avocado-lime pasta certainly fit the bill. Just cook the pasta, and in the meanwhile, chop and assemble the other ingredients, uncooked (or go have a quick cooling shower if your better half does this), then voila! Dinner in ten minutes!
Inspired by Den finska avokadopastan on pickipicki, an excellent Swedish blog (with very entertaining podcasts). She says there that the recipe has been on all the Finnish and Finnish-Swedish blogs this spring, so she is bringing it to the Swedes.
Finnish avocado lime pasta for a hot summer evening
400 g dry pasta
2 ripe avocados
Juice of one lime
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Punch of chili flakes
Salt, pepper
Handful of basil, chopped
100 g Parmesan, grated
Boil the pasta. In the interim, peel, stone and dice the avocados. Toss diced avocado in a bowl with lime juice, salt, pepper and some chili flakes. Drain pasta, and toss with ingredients, including basil and grated cheese. Serve warm or cold.
Notes: The original recipe called for a half desilitre of olive oil, but it was creamy enough without, I thought. Great flavours, though terribly un-Italian, I am sure.
krumkaker 
I never had any luck finding good avocados in Roma. And have you ever found any Italian ones? I’m trying to be more locovorish and I’ve got a feeling they don’t grow them in Italy – I asked our fruttivendoli and they didn’t think so. Maybe in Sicily. Funny really, as avos surely like similar climates to olives??
Excellent question. We see them a bit more often now, in the small exotic section, but always imported, often not very good. I have heard people ask at the fruttivendolo “….Ma come si mangia questo…? Do I boil it?” Maybe not enough demand on many areas. You are right, there is a cooperative near Catania that grows organic avocados, but perhaps their production is mainly exported.
Boiled avocado?! Now there’s a challenge…
Un-italian perhaps, but the idea sounds interesting so will have to give this a try when it eventually gets hot enough here! Lately we’ve been hitting 27-28° during the day and dropping to 21° at night, but then I live in a forest. Not hot enough to break a sweat or get too heated up in the kitchen so maybe I’ll go whip up a batch of cookies!
Oh, the forest sounds really pleasant — have a cookie for me! What kind would you make?
Chocolate chip with hemp flour and walnuts. Really liking this ingredient that our fave organic store is stocking on the shelves, so I’ll have to do a post after I’ve tried several products.
Oh, chocolate chip with hemp flour and walnuts does sound interesting! Please do post! I’m going to look for nutritional yeast at Canestro here in Rome, and will look for hemp flour as well.
I love avocado anything in salads, smoothies and desserts. It gives everything a creamy texture and it’s good for your health. Too bad it’s not readily available where you are in Italy 😦 This recipe sounds good and easy enough to make. Basil, lime and garlic go really well with the avocado and pasta. I have to give it a try. I’m thinking to substitute the parmesan cheese for nutritional yeast. Thanks for sharing!
You know, I have been meaning to try nutritional yeast as a parmesan substitute, it’s meant to be so good for you. I’ve seen recipes suggesting nutritional yeast with almonds or cashews, or with toasted sesame. Will see if I can find some – thanks for the inspiration!
Oh, I hope you find it! It is good for you. Nutritional yeast is a vegetarian source of Vitamin B-12. It is gluten free and is high in protein and fiber. It is also a great source of folic acid. I love to sprinkle it on cauliflower, salad, pasta and even organic popcorn! Let me know what you think of it when you try it 🙂
You’re killing me. We have sold everything and hit the road with no particular destination or schedule. But without a home, there’s little opportunity for cooking (fented apartments, etc.) And now I stumble across your blog with all these great recipes….
Thanks! And thanks for sharing your gorgeous photos, what an adventure! Hope you get a chance to do a little cooking along the way (though in August heat, that can be challenging….). All the best for your travels.
It’s been very hot in the UK, so this recipe was perfect! It’s delicious and definitely doesn’t need the extra olive oil.
So glad you liked it! Yes, we heard the UK has been unusually hot too.
So interesting! I have never made a dish like this… may have to try it- sounds tasty. 🙂 Another great “no cook” summer pasta meal besides pesto!
Thanks! The avocado gives it a nice creaminiess. When it is hot, no-cook is the way to go. Or anything under ten minutes of cooking…. I made this last week, really easy to whizz together in a blender if you have roasted bell peppers at hand: Roasted Red Pepper Ricotta Sauce. ( see http://hovkonditorn.blogspot.it/2013/07/roasted-bell-pepper-ricotta-sauce.html ). I used half the amount of ricotta, and it was still a really light tasty pasta sauce.
Sounds great- now I will have to try that too! 🙂
I made this tasty dish and posted a link to your blog! Great- Thanks for sharing 🙂
http://thebrookcook.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/avocado-lime-pasta/
Thanks! So glad more people can enjoy this pasta!