Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta

Using fresh garlic, lemon and basil, this dish came out full flavored and zesty. I made the mistake of adding too much lemon so it was a tad too tart. Reading the comments from others, I added grape tomatoes and frozen peas. Also, in my mortar and pestle I ground about 1/2 cup of walnuts to the pepitas -which added a tiny bit of sweetness from the walnuts. I'm taking this to a pot luck and its summer so it won't be served as a hot dish.

I made several substitutions since we did not have basil, and added shrimp, this was quite fast and delicious. Highly recommend.

We made half of the sauce and used about 3/4 pound of pasta. This was plenty for three hungry people. Not too rich. Served with steamed veggies and shrimp. I was concerned by one comment that the pepitas made the pesto gritty, but ours turned out very smooth.

I had no fresh basil in my kitchen, (and no time to get to the store) so I used fresh cilantro instead. Absolutely delish! Only thing I found disappointing about this recipe was that the leftover sauce didn't stay bright green.

Pepitas instead of pine nuts for the pesto is a game changer! I used unsalted pepitas, and it didn’t affect the taste at all. Delicious and will be in regular rotation.

Loved it! So creamy and delish. Due to the high salt factors I used (heavy French sea salt to cook pasta, Parmigiano-Reggiano), the salted water AND tsp in recipe was overload in mine. Will use regular parmesan next time and not use salt to boil pasta to test. Otherwise, the avocado and pepitas were absolute delights. It was fun and super quick to put this together for a quick, nutritious dinner.

Delicious and simple.

It is great. The spices, lemon juice and cheese can be adjusted according to taste! The texture is great with pasta

A really nice recipe. We made this vegan and gluten-free, skipping the Parmesan and using chickpea pasta. We also used pine nuts instead of pepitas and we had fresh basil from the garden. It was a lovely dish that was light-tasting and yet filling. Will certainly make this again in the same way!

Phenomenal! Tripled the garlic and added a bit more salt (nuts were unsalted) and lime juice. Served with pasta and burst cherry tomatoes.

A bit too rich for us. It's essentially a recipe for pesto, which is already rich, and then add avocado. Didn't think it added anything but a claggy texture.

My family loved this including my daughter who was skeptical because she doesn’t like avocados. It was creamy and delicious. I tweaked it to accommodate my pesto preferences- used pistachios instead of pepitas, used pasta water for the water, used less water and oil than called for, used some white miso for the salt, upped the lemon and added some lemon zest. Will be a keeper in my household. They creamy texture was luxurious.

We love this recipe's bold fresh flavors! Quick as it is to throw together, it is as much company worthy as it is a star for a weeknight dinner. I've made it with toasted pine nuts, pistachios and the pepitas. I've even made it without any nuts/seeds. I've used more lemon juice and no pasta water. It's just as delicious and beautiful with short pasta or regular spaghetti. You can't go wrong with this! Make it as written or make it your own. Thanks Kay Chun and New York Times.

I’m so sorry to be a hater because I love NYT recipes and never comment to be unhelpful: this recipe REALLY isn’t it. It tastes (even with the freshest avocados, and commenters mods) like avocado toast over extended itself, and deprived pasta of its joyous, rich saucy slurpy deliciousness. Balance is off, nothing helped the original recipe - I’ve made 3 versions because this is my dream pasta idea. And I can cook! :(

Absolutely delicious, and while I couldn’t taste the avocado, the pesto overall tasted more like I WISH my regular pesto would taste. Super rich and creamy! I actually think two whole cups in the pasta might be *too* rich; next time I’ll try maybe 1.25 cups. Also note that this is a perfect base recipe to add deliciousness to. So to those saying this could use tomatoes or red pepper or… Just, you know, do that. :) Add it in! (Can’t wait to try this as a cold salad, as someone suggested!)