Bank holiday weekend woo hoo. Time to bust out the avocados.

I found this recipe on another food blog of sorts, Kevin & Amanda, after my friend Rebecca sent me a link to make homemade pizza bagels, more of a joke than an actual suggestion. But all joking aside, pizza bagels are very delicious.

I picked this particular pasta recipe from the site because I love avocados and normally don’t think of combining them with shrimp. But when I think of my beloved Mexican food, avocados, or more specifically guacamole, is absolutely served on top of grilled shrimp, so why not pasta? I modified the original recipe a bit based on my own personal preferences, but have listed out all the ingredients used in the original recipe for the purposes of this blog.

Ingredients

1 ripe Hass avocado
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound linguine (about 400g)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup chopped scallions (I have issues with scallions, and by that I mean I hate them, so I didn’t include these)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Cut the avocado in half lengthwise. Remove the pit from the avocado and discard. Remove the avocado from the skin, and place the avocado in the bowl of a food processor. Now, if you’re broke like me/a flat renter and don’t feel like buying expensive kitchen gadgets, not because you won’t want to, but because it’s just so damn impractical, you can use a mortar and pestle. Say what?!

The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone. The pestle is a heavy club-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. It is not ideal for this recipe as you want the sauce to be really creamy and smooth but if you’ve got some good arm muscles on you and the virtue of patience, you can pulverize those avocados pretty good (well).

Add the Parmesan and lemon juice to the food processor bowl (or mortar). Pulse the mixture for 1 to 2 minutes while streaming in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl with a spatula as needed. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Set the avocado mixture aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the linguine and cook according to the package directions. Once the pasta is al dente, drain and set aside. For it to be al dente, make sure you read the cooking instructions for the pasta on the package and cook about 2-3 minutes less than the desired time.

Add the butter and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat

Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds

Add the shrimp and cook until they are pink and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side

Add the scallions (note: evil scallions not pictured here) and red pepper flakes and stir to combine

Add the cooked pasta and the avocado-Parmesan sauce to the shrimp mixture and toss to combine using a pair of kitchen tongs. The pasta should be evenly coated with the avocado-Parmesan mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Serve immediately, with more Parmesan if desired. So yes, serve with Paremsan

Gorge.

Read about more delights at Kevin & Amanda and What’s Gaby Cooking