Dinner for Two: 20-Minute Green Goddess Spaghetti
Late-summer pasta!!
There’s so many reasons to love it.
If you’re wondering whether the above is the greatest basil tree in North America, I can humbly confirm that it is. Standing at a whopping 3ft tall my basil was the uncontested centerpiece of my 2016 #urbangarden, one that also included mint, thyme, rosemary, oregano, hot peppers, and a recently pruned tomato tree. I’ve been bragging about my garden for months (I know! you’re over it) but the fact that ANYTHING can grow in NYC besides mold and my credit card bill is astounding, so try to forgive my enthusiasm. Because while my garden goodies inspired tons of killer summer recipes — pizza, ice cream, biscuits, YES — this green goddess spaghetti is the first to incorporate not just a few herbs and veggies, but four of them.
Four! It’s a garden clean-out bonanza, all ready in just 20 minutes.
Seeing as this is a painfully quick recipe I’ll keep this short & sweet: cook up some spaghetti, puree the sauce, toss in some veggies.
DONE.
It is really, truly, offensively simple, you can’t eat this healthy for much less effort.
To prepare the sauce all you need is half an avocado, a shit-ton of herbs — basil, oregano, rosemary — a ‘lil lemon, a touch of garlic, and some sharp cheese. It’s basically a multi-herb spin on pesto, and just like pesto you can easily tweak this to accommodate whatever ingredients you have on hand. So if you’ve got some thyme instead of rosemary? It’s all good! Need to add a little extra avocado to compensate for a little less basil? Totally cool. Parmesan instead of Asiago? Walnuts instead of pignoli? WERK.
The more you learn to cook with what ya got, the better a cook you’ll be.
Tomato/corn combinations are, obviously, amazing, so I knew they would fill this pasta out into a hearty, satisfying dish. As you know corn is super easy to grill (like 5 minutes), and the tomatoes add such a bright pop of color — not to mention sweet/savory flavor — that I really couldn’t imagine eating this without them. Plus, I bet many of you HAVE cherry, sugar lump, or mini heirloom tomatoes fully ripe in your garden, so use them now!
Like you, they’re not getting any younger.
And PS? Bocconini!!!
Cutest cheese ever.
Dinner for Two: 20-Minute Green Goddess Spaghetti
Ingredients:
- 8 oz Spaghetti Pasta
- 1 cup Basil Leaves, lightly packed
- ½ small Avocado
- ¼ cup Oregano
- 2 tbsps Rosemary
- 3 tbsps Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ¼ cup Asiago Cheese, shredded (optional)
- 1 tbsp Pignoli Nuts
- 1 tsp Crushed or Minced Garlic
- 2 tbsps Lemon Juice
- pinch of Salt & Pepper
- 1 ear Corn, grilled and kernels removed
- ½ pint Mini Heirloom Tomatoes, halved
- 4 oz Bocconini
Directions:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then cook pasta as directed. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water when draining.
- Meanwhile, in food processor combine the basil, avocado, oregano, rosemary, EVOO, asiago (if using!), pignoli nuts, garlic, lemon juice, and salt & pepper, pureeing until smooth and scraping the sides as needed.
- When ready, toss the cooked & drained spaghetti in the green goddess sauce, adding a tablespoon or two of the reserved pasta water if needed. Combine with the corn, tomatoes, and bocconicini, then immediately eat!
#dinnerfortwo.
Gorgeous photos! This pasta look so easy and perfect for an end of summer meal. I am loving your posts lately…such great recipes and photos!
Looks great!!
Any subs for Avacado in sauce? Wife is allergic
hey Chris! you could always double-down on the herbs (in particular the Basil!) or you could sub out the avocado with 1/2 a cup of white kidney beans, as they’ll vaguely mimic the creamy texture that the avocado contributes. good luck! xo
Gorgeous looking salad and that garden! Wow! I am jealous 🙂 :)! That basil look amazing! I was quite successful with growing basil last year but this year it is not going :(.
thank you Julia!!!
Pingback: Green Goddess Skillet Pizza - Wry Toast