Quick and easy pasta with pesto, spinach, peas and avocado. So EASY and creamy!
The great thing about making a large batch of pesto is that you can easily dip it in to enhance a meal. Here we’re highlighting an easy pasta and pesto side dish with chopped baby spinach, peas, and avocado.
I don’t usually think of avocado when I think of pasta, but it works! Avocados are rich, creamy, and good for you. They take up the space that a cheese would take in a dish like this.
Tips for pesto pasta success
- Reserve some of the starchy cooking water add again to make everything creamier.
- Toss the pasta with the pesto when the pasta is hot. This way the pasta absorbs the pesto flavors better.
- Add a dash of vinegar. Adding a dash or two of vinegar will not only lighten the flavor, but will help keep the avocados from browning too quickly.
Pesto pasta with spinach and avocado
While the pasta water is coming to a boil, prepare the spinach and avocado.
ingredients
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12 ounces fusilli
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Salt
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2 cups packed (approx 2 1/2 ounces) freshly chopped baby spinach leaves
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6 to 8 tablespoon prepared Basil pesto
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1 to 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
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1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (more or less to taste)
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1/2 Cup Peas (thawed if frozen)
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1 all ripe (but not overripe) avocadopeeled and chopped
method
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Cook pasta:
Bring a large pot of salted water (3 liters of water, 1 tablespoon of salt) to a boil. Add the dry noodles to the boiling water, stirring occasionally to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Cook al dente in rapidly boiling water, cooked through but still a bit al dente. The duration depends on your pasta pack and is between 8 and 12 minutes.
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Add hot pasta to chopped fresh spinach:
Place the chopped spinach in the bottom of a large bowl. When the noodles are done, drain about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta and add the hot drained pasta to the chopped spinach in the bowl. Throw to mix. The heat of the pasta will help collapse the spinach leaves.
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Stir in the pesto, add some pasta cooking water, vinegar, salt and pepper:
Stir in the pesto so the pasta is well coated. Add a little of the pasta cooking water you set aside to loosen the noodles a bit. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
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Add Peas and Avocado:
Stir in the peas and gently fold in the chopped avocado. Taste and add more salt, vinegar and/or pepper if needed.
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 481 | calories |
| 32g | Fat |
| 41g | carbohydrates |
| 12g | protein |
