Pasta con Palta (Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta) Recipe (2024)

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.

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!

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.)

Think it would be better if they avocado and walnuts were pieces and you tossed olive oilwith pasta and then added avocado and nuts.

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!

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.

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

Next time I’ll try to process with lemon to balance the fat and herbs first some flavor and moisture

I’m Chilean and never grew up eating palta with pasta..we do eat it with everything else though. That being said, I love this combo! Just not sure it’s accurate to say it’s Chilean.

I hate to leave such a harsh review, but this recipe was truely abhorrent. Just don't make it.

-I would use a food processor over a blender if possible. I tried using a blender (because I was too lazy to pull out the Cuisinart) and it really didn't work.-A similar recipe on NYT Cooking uses a little lemon juice; I think that would brighten up the flavor a little and perhaps curtail some of the darkening of color (esp. for leftovers)-As noted in another comment, the avocado will darken in an unappealing way, over time. Don't make many leftovers!

As written, the recipe makes a bland, flat dish, and requiring a blender to make it is ridiculous. I added lemon juice and zest to help it out. Not enough. I’ll add tomatoes and some pepper heat if I ever make it again. Maybe greens or corn or some protein. And I’ll crush the garlic and nuts then add them to a smashed avocado. I halved the recipe, and it’s enough for 3.

Grate some garlic, mash up an avocado or two, squeeze in some lime juice, add salt & pepper then stir in hot pasta. One of my go to quick dinners. Sprinkling on some nuts sounds like a fine addition.

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 made this for a quick lunch today, topped with some chopped tomatoes and a squeeze of lemon juice. Tasted good but aesthetically much more bland looking than the photo. Next time I might add a green herb (basil, cilantro, mint, or parsley) or a few fresh spinach leaves to the sauce to give it some color.

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!

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.

Prepared it as the recipe said, very bland! Added some pesto, lemon, and parmesan which helped a little but it was still a very bland dish overall.

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.)

A bland dish based on the bare-bones NYT recipe, made flavorful by the addition of several basil leaves (thanks, NYT commenters!) and a generous dose of grated parmesan, which I blended into the sauce after my first taste.

Creamy, nutty, super! Surprised it didn't call for cheese...added a glug of soy sauce (like I do for EVERYTHING) and it was deeelicious. Satisfying enough with a big salad to be Meatless Monday and nicely fatty enpugh to be filling and satisying. Yum.

Excellent base recipe. Added basil and toasted pine nuts (pesto for me = basil, garlic and pine nuts) instead of walnuts, blended half with the avocado and scattered the rest amongst the pasta. Lemon juice, goat cheese and a few red pepper flakes into the avocado mix as well. Lights out good. Guest worthy.