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Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta with Crispy Prosciutto




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This avocado pesto pasta with crispy prosciutto is super creamy, delicious, and full of nutritional values; basically, the addition of avocado takes the pesto game to a whole new level.

This avocado pesto pasta with crispy prosciutto is super creamy, delicious, and full of nutritional values; basically, the addition of avocado takes the pesto game to a whole new level. The buttery, sweet taste of avocado goes incredibly well with the salty parmesan cheese, and of course, a generous amount of basil leaves would freshen up the overall taste. I made this pasta a while ago but never got the chance to photography it properly. Luckily, this Sunday afternoon, I got my own personal space without school and work and simply enjoyed playing with food in the kitchen (although my peace of mind got disrupted when I accidentally broke my wok’s lid and all the all the glass shattered into a million of pieces..). Oh well.



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When it comes to savoury, I am all about taste and efficiency, and this pasta dish is no exception. To make the avocado pesto sauce, all you have to do is blend all the ingredients in a food processor until it reaches the consistency you want. I personally wouldn’t go too far on that, because I want to have some texture left to bite on. Toss the sauce with the cooked pasta and you are good to go. To give my pasta little bit of crunch, I also made some crispy prosciutto that complements well with the sauce. Yeap, that’s pretty much it. So if you’re quick, this pasta can be done in 15 mins. Try this recipe and let me know about your thoughts! 🙂 Thanks for reading.

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Ingredients:

  • 2 servings of bowtie pasta

Toppings

  • a few pieces of prosciutto
  • Fresh basil leaves to garnish

Pesto

  • 1 avocado
  • 1/2 lemon, juice of
  • 1 garlic cloves
  • 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1/3 cup toasted pine nut
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to package instruction. Reserve some pasta water. Drain and set aside.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, cook the prosciutto in a sauce pan on medium-high heat until fragrant and crispy. Set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, put all the pesto ingredients (except salt and pepper) in a food processor or blender. Blend until generally smooth (you can retain some texture if you want). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce in the sauce pan. If the sauce is too thick, thin it out by adding some reserved pasta water. Serve immediately with the crispy prosciutto and some fresh basil leaves.

Yum




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The Ultimate Dream – Raw Pistachio Avocado Coconut Ice-cream Cake
I don’t know why I didn’t do it earlier, but what happens when all of my favourite ingredients, i.e. pistachio, avocado, and coconut, are put in one single cake? A DREAM COME TRUE. I just finished 75% of my ielts test this morning, so I feel like I have to write about food to celebrate life a bit. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd although it is slowly reaching Autumn here in Hong Kong, whenever I step outside, I literally melt into pieces. Even still, I can’t always resort to bubble tea to cool myself down right? Well, can I?!?OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI think people who love pistachios would understand how hard it can be to enjoy these tiny yet unbelievably expensive nuts; every one of them counts. I always wanted to save money by getting those with shells, and one time while I was shelling them at home for over an hour and was caught by my brother, and he laughed at my lonely solitude time. Whoops.

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This cake is inspired by the PISTACHIO & ORANGE BLOSSOM RAW AVOCADO CAKE by Unconventional Baker – someone who creates tons of beautiful, raw and healthy desserts. Being as greedy as always, I threw in a dash of coconut goodness, i.e. dessicated coconut and coconut milk, into the cake base and cake filling respectively. In both the original and my own take, every mouthful It is all about freshness brought by the cake’s natural, raw components. With that said, how can I honestly make it sound even better? How about by telling you that  this cake is a frozen ice-cream cake? This way, every mouthful feels both icy and creamy in texture, and entirely nourishing and satisfying in feel. In other words, this is the perfect treat for a sunny, warm day when you just want to hide inside a fridge that’s probably too small for you.

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Ingredients:

Crust:

  • ½ cup raw pistachios (~55g), pre-soaked and drained
  • 1/2 cup desiccated coconut (~50g)
  • 5 soft medjool dates, pitted (~95g)
  • 1 ½  tbsp maple syrup
  • â…› tsp salt

Filling:

  • 2 medium size avocados, peeled and pitted (~230g)
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) maple syrup
  • 1 cup (240ml) coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • â…› tsp salt
  • ¼ cup raw pistachios
  • tsp vanilla

Optional Toppings: 

  • Raspberries and chopped pistachios

Instructions:

For the base:

  1. Line an 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper.
  2. Using a blender or food processor, ground the crust ingredients into a semi-fine texture with some crunch left.
  3. Evenly distribute the mixture on the bottom of the pan and press with a spoon until the base is even and firm.

For the filling:

  1. Using a clean blender or food processor, blend all the filling ingredients in high speed until smooth and creamy.
  2. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin.
  3. Freeze the cake for at least 3 hours to let it set. 
  4. If preferred, decorate the cake with raspberries and chopped pistachio just like I did. Enjoy! 🙂

*To enjoy the ideal texture, please first leave the cake to soften a bit in room temperature for about 10 mins. 

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Stack of Macadamia Nut Butter Avocado Brownies
In case you still don’t know, I LOVE avocado. The worldwide avocado obsession possibly started with the ridiculously endless yet highly addictive avocado toast pictures that flooded Instagram in recent years. But let’s not get too cynical about its fame and take the time to acknowledge the fact that avo is amazing (and nutritious, creamy, delicious, cute, natural). Three Macadamia Nut Butter Avocado BrowniesAs for the recipe, a friend of mine tried this brownie and she said it was a total bomb. Well, it is indeed. You might be worried about the end result when there’s no butter or any liquid oil added to the recipe; relax. The smoothness of macadamia nut butter blended with the creaminess of avocado keeps the final treat moist and gooey – just as how brownies should be.Tray of Macadamia Nut Butter Avocado Brownies

I also wanted this brownie to feel a little bit more “mature”, so I used coffee and good quality dark chocolate to provide a contrast to the sweetness of the white sugar. In the end, there’re so many different textures in every last little mouthful – creaminess from macadamia nut butter and avocado; crunchiness from chopped macadamia; and gooeyness thanks to half-melted dark chocolate. So, even IFFFF you don’t have the biggest sweet tooth, you’re gonna declare this brownie your new bae.

Ingredients:

  • 95g all purpose flour
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 avocado
  • 60g homemade macadamia nut butter *See Note
  • 120g white sugar
  • 2 eggs  
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbsp instant coffee powder melted in 1 tbsp hot water
  • 1 tbsp almond milk
  • 50g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
  • 100g macadamia, chopped

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line a square pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a bowl, sift in and combine well flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
  3. In another bowl, mash the avocado until smooth with a fork or masher. Add macadamia nut butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, coffee mixture, almond milk. Mix well.
  4. Pour the dry flour mixture into the wet ingredients in three batches. Stir the batter gently with a spatula until everything is just incorporated.
  5. Stir in the chopped dark chocolate and macadamia.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared square tin.
  7. Bake the brownie for 18 minutes (don’t overcook brownies!). Take the brownie out from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before any handling.

*Note for macadamia nut butter

Macadamia nut butter is very easy to make as long as you have a blender or preferably food processor.

Instructions:

  • Roast 200g raw macadamia in an oven at 350F (175C) for 8 mins. Blend or process the roasted macadamia until completely smooth and creamy. Store the excess in an airtight jar and put in the fridge.
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