Creamy Avocado Pasta
This is one of those recipes we find ourselves coming back to again and again, especially on nights when we want something that feels indulgent but comes together in no time. The avocado blends into this silky, creamy sauce that coats every strand of pasta beautifully, and the basil and spinach give it this gorgeous fresh green colour that makes it look way more impressive than the effort involved. You get that rich, buttery flavour from the avocado, a little brightness from the lemon, and a savoury depth from the nutritional yeast that just works. Honestly, if you've got a ripe avocado sitting on the counter, this is exactly what you should be making tonight.
Before You Start
- Preheat oven to 200°C
- Large baking tray
- Food processor
- Large pot
- Colander
- Microplane or grater (for parmesan)
Ingredients
- 1 large avocado
- 30g basil
- 70g spinach
- 1 lemon
- 25g nutritional yeast
- 35ml olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- 100g curly kale
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- flakey salt
- 2 portions of spaghetti
- plant-based parmesan
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
Cook the pasta
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente
Prepare the avocado sauce
- Halve and destone the avocado and squeeze the flesh into the food processor
- Add the basil leaves (including the stem), and spinach to the food processor
- Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice into the food processor, catching any pips in your free hand
- Finally, add the nutritional yeast and olive oil and blitz into a smooth, creamy sauce. You may need a splash of water to loosen
- Taste and season to perfection with salt and pepper
Prepare the crispy kale
- Pour the kale onto a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and a big pinch of flakey sea salt. Massage the olive and salt into the kale for a minute
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 8 minutes, shaking the tray half way through cooking
Finish and serve
- Drain the pasta into a colander, saving a cup full of pasta water
- Pour in the sauce and pasta water to the pot of pasta and fold until each piece of spaghetti is coated in the sauce
- Twist the bright green pasta into 2 serving bowls, sprinkle the kale over each bowl, dress with a good drizzle of olive oil, a decent crack of black pepper and a generous grating of plant based parmesan
Tips & Variations
- Reserve your pasta water: Before you drain the pasta, scoop out a mugful of the starchy cooking water. Add a splash to the sauce when you toss everything together and it'll help the avocado sauce coat the pasta even more smoothly.
- Use a really ripe avocado: This one matters more than you'd think. A perfectly ripe avocado blends into something genuinely creamy and luxurious, while an underripe one can taste a bit grassy and won't blend as smoothly. Give it a gentle squeeze before you buy it.
- Eat it straight away: Ian learned this the hard way. Avocado oxidises pretty quickly once it's blended, so this is a dish best eaten fresh and fast. It's not really one for meal prep, but honestly it's so quick to make you won't need to.
Why This Works
The trick here is using a food processor to blitz everything together while the pasta is still hot, so the sauce clings to it perfectly rather than sitting on top. What really makes this sing is the nutritional yeast, it adds this almost cheesy, umami depth that stops the whole thing from feeling too light. We always say don't skip the lemon either, that little bit of acidity cuts through the richness of the avocado and keeps every bite feeling fresh.