Avocado pesto pasta

I love avocado. However, M hates it, pulls it out of everything and refuses to eat it. Ugh he doesn't know what he's missing. Tonight he is teaching late so I'm on my own for dinner. I decided I was using avocado in my dinner since 9 am....then the task was to research it and find a recipe, I found several. So I used what I had on hand, combined a couple recipes and boom, had a great avocado pesto pasta.  

Now if course I enjoyed this with a bottle , I mean glass of wine. The pup and I then enjoyed the rest of the night watching "One For The Money", drinking wine and eating pumpkin roll. 

Ingredients: 

8oz of pasta ( I used ziti)

1 avocado

1/2 lemon juiced

4 cubes of basil 

2 tbs of grated cheese 

2 cloves of garlic 

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes - diced

1/4 cup of mushrooms- sautéed 

 

Directions: 

Boil pasta according to directions. In a food processer or in my case "smoothie maker" mix together the avocado, lemon juice, basil, and garlic until smooth. Then add the cheese and olive oil and mix again. Stir in diced tomatoes. Pour over hot pasta and mix, stir in extra cheese and hot pepper flakes.  This would be good with shrimp, chicken or steak added. 

Hope you enjoy! 

Giving spaghetti squash another try!

M and I have tried spaghetti squash a couple times in the past two years, usually not being impressed. So when I came home with one two weeks ago, M groaned and I stuck it in the fridge. Tonight I was looking for something yummy to make and found that spaghetti squash and sorta made a spaghetti squash lasagna. 

The recipe is below, hopefully you enjoy it! 

Ingredients: 

1 spaghetti squash

1 tbs oil

1/2 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 lb sausage

1 can of no salt added diced tomatoes

1 tsp of oregano 

1 tsp basil ( I added a little more a couple shakes)

Red pepper flakes 

1/4 cup of part skim ricotta cheese

1/4 cup of cottage cheese

Italian blend shredded cheese to sprinkle on top.

Directions: 

1) Preheat oven to 400

2) Slicesquash, spoon out seeds and rub with oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper

3) Place face down in a baking dish and cook for 50 minutes.

4) With 15 minutes left to cooking, in a large saucepan cook sausage, onion and garlic

5) Once browned add tomatoes and spices.

6) When it bubbles, reduce the heat and simmer 3-4 minutes.

7) Meanwhile, combine ricotta and cottage cheese. Add some salt and pepper

8) When squash is done, flip over and fill with cheese mixture, then meat mixture and sprinkle with Italian blend.

9) Put back in oven under broil for 1 min till cheese is bubbly. Serve! 

So it changed our opinion, we both enjoyed it and I will definitely be picking up another squash when I'm at the store!