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Pasta con Palta (Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta)
Updated Oct. 17, 2023
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- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- Fine sea salt
- 1pound spaghetti or fettuccine
- 2Hass avocados
- ½cup/2 ounces walnut pieces
- 2garlic cloves, chopped
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high. Cook the pasta according to package instructions until al dente.
- Step 2
While the pasta cooks, halve the avocados, discard the pits and transfer the flesh to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add the walnuts, garlic and oil; process or blend until smooth, scraping the sides as needed. (Patience is key; keep blending until the mixture is fully creamy.)
- Step 3
As soon as the pasta is al dente, reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta then transfer to a large bowl. Using tongs or two large forks, toss vigorously with the avocado sauce, 1½ teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper and ½ cup of the reserved pasta water. If the sauce is too thick, toss with more reserved pasta cooking water until the sauce is creamy and glossy. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve immediately.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Followed recipe exactly, except that I first lightly sautéed the garlic in the olive oil to mellow its sharpness. I also tossed pasta & avocado dressing with halved cherry tomatoes and canned corn kernels for some color and texture contrast. Huge hit with my 4 dinner guests. Rich, creamy, comforting, and beautiful on the plate. Warning: recipe as written makes 4 LARGE main course servings. I’d halve this for 4 adults as a side dish. We had leftovers, which darkened unattractively within an hour
Soak minced garlic in lemon juice soften the garlic's sharpness for 15 minutes, then gently fry the garlic in olive oil in a skillet. Mash up your avocado(s) like you would for guac--no lumps. Cook pasta to al dente in salted water but less water than normal to concentrate the starch -- this will help make the sauce extra creamy. When the pasta is ready, dump it in the skillet with garlic using tongs. Add avocado and toss add a bit of the pasta water and toss until nice and creamy.
I make something similar, but I always add basil (preferably freshly picked) and a little lemon juice.
I make this with avo with a generous squeeze of lemon, then I serve with well-roasted (in my airfryer) cherry tomatoes, tossed in a a splash of olive oil and balsamic. The sweet, slightly charred little tomatoes are a nice foil for the lemony avo, and makes a complete meal.
Having just made this, next time I'd absolutely skip the blender (a ripe avocado is too soft and light to blend well). Mash the avocado with a fork. Crush the walnuts with a mallet in a plastic bag. Stir them together with the olive oil and minced garlic. Definitely reserve the pasta water to coat. (I added lemon juice and red pepper flakes for more flavor, too.)
I will probably make this with unsalted pepitas or sunflower seeds, because that's what I have, not walnuts. And I'm sure it will be great.
I also make a variation of this with lemon, basil, and goat cheese and any type of nut (have tried cashews, pistachios, pine nuts - all work). It doesn’t darken and is delicious!
Hmm - I've been married into a Chilean family for 25 years. They are predictable fanatics when it comes to "palta," but no one has ever heard of putting it on pasta. One thing I can say is that if this were made in Chile it would definitely have lemon mixed into the palta. The addition of tomatoes would be very authentic as well. And then they'd skip the pasta and smear the whole thing on bread with a nice bottle of red, which is very Chilean.
I used a short pasta (campanelle) instead of long, and it really held the sauce beautifully. I added some lemon zest and juice from half a lemon, which brightened everything up. Also added chopped zucchini to the pasta in the last few minutes of cooking. The sweetness of the zucchini was a lovely balance to the other flavors. This was divine!
Think it would be better if they avocado and walnuts were pieces and you tossed olive oil with pasta and then added avocado and nuts.
It was ok, nothing spectacular but interesting. I follow the recipe exactly, didn't change a thing. I just took advice of some cooks that it would be better to sautéed the garlic with I did. I don't think I would cook it again, but just in case, I saved it. Who knows
So boring! I don’t recommend this. I can’t even think what might make it better. It needs something to add some zing- maybe lemon or cilantro or Parmesan but it’s so delicate I think those would overwhelm the avocado flavor. Not worthy of the pasta we tossed it with.
I substituted cashews once and almonds the other - both delish. Also added lemon juice and Basil. The creamiest was a huge hit. Served with shrimp sautéed in butter n garlic.
Great easy recipe. I did add the corn and tomatoes and definitely added to the pasta. I will reduce the amount of garlic next time.
Made with toasted pecans, not walnuts (too bitter); and used a lemon/salt/pepper blend, and lemon infused oil, after reading others’ suggestions.
Very disapointing result and a waste of all the ingredients used.
For someone with an allergy to nuts -- how about adding a tablespoon of nutritional yeast? Just looking for alternatives, but I'm sure it can be made without nuts altogether. I do think a squeeze of lemon would be a good idea.
added lime juice and Bragg's aminos, Bingo.
I recently started to buy avocados in bulk and freeze them. I let them ripen, cut in quarters to easily and safely pit them, drop the quarters in lemon juice that I then drain off them and place them in freezer bags, 2 avocados/bag. When they thaw, they are a bit mushy, perfect for this recipe, a rough guacamole, or mashed as a sandwich garnish. My new fav hack and my new fav recipe.
Careful with walnuts (can be too nutty) & add lots of salt to balance out
Must add acid-lemon, lime, whatever you have on hand. Definitely add the full cup of pasta water. It was plenty of sauce to coat 20 oz. Of pasta. It is so rich; I think it would be better as a side dish.
I have to say, as written this is very bland. Barely edible. After I tasted, first added red pepper flakes. Then added parmesan. Then more salt. Then tomatoes on the vine (all I had). The tomatoes improved it considerably, but it really needs lemon. I would add lemon next time, but don't think I will make again. Better to make some guac, and just have pasta with olive oil and cheese.
Not enough flavor, though Mom liked it a lot. I sprinkled red pepper flakes before serving, that helped. Used lots of squeezed lemon, which I saw in notes of others. Worth trying again because I think there's room to be creative and make it better.
Yum. Make half sauce and half pasta and still be enough for 4 people. Added half a lemon worth of lemon zest. Used bow tie pasta. Served with grilled boneless skinless thighs - marinated half day in lemon, garlic, olive oil and Aleppo marinade - lemon heavy small amount total
I loved this, was so comforting. I didn’t have walnuts or a blender so I ground the garlic and some flaked almonds in a pestle and mortar before adding in the avocado. Stirred through some rocket I had handy towards the end as well. Delicious and peppery.
Quick, easy and very good. We liked the creamy texture. My only change was to add a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice. For subsequent batches I'll experiment with chunkier texture, cheeses, tomatoes, etc.
I wish I had read the comments before making this. I definitely would have fried up the garlic. Straight garlic is hard for me to handle. This was quite bland. I would have added cherry tomatoes and parmesan cheese.
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