After some sweet recipes I have another vegetarian recipe for you today, spaghetti with avocado-cashew pesto and grilled halloumi.
About 2 weeks ago I got a rather unexpected email from an old school friend of mine. I hadn’t seen her for quite some time. She knew about my food blog and she told me that she wanted to start her own blog. Shortly after this email I met up with her and we had a long, lovely and interesting conversation about blogging (among other things, of course). In her blog she is going to write about healthy food, fitness and happy moments in our daily life. I’m still really thrilled about this conversation and I can’t wait for her blog to go online. Once she does I’ll tell you about it, I promise!
Anyway, it was this conversation that made me reflect on healthy eating again (after all these sweet things of my recent posts). And then I thought, if healthy then also speedy. Because these are the kind of recipes that so many people are interested in. Including me, as a matter of fact. So I came up with the spaghetti with avocado-cashew pesto and grilled halloumi.
I used a handful of mixed herbs for this recipe. Of course you can also use only one sort (e.g. only basil or arugula or …) Just take whatever you have at hand or feel like eating or whatever your herb garden offers. As long as the stems are soft and green you can use them as well.
For my “mini”-sauce I used some white wine as I love the combination of spaghetti and wine. But you can easily substitute it with 1 cup of spaghetti cooking water, stock or grape or apple juice.
And the halloumi, I think it’s like the icing on the cake in this pasta dish. It tastes really delicious!
Wishing you much fun when cooking this recipe and Buon Appetito!
Spaghetti with Avocado-Cashew Pesto
Serves 4
3 avocados
1 handful of mixed herbs (e.g. rosemary, thyme, marjoram, sage, parsley, basil)
1 clove of garlic
2 ½ oz (75 g) cashew nuts, salted
1 lemon (juice)
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt, pepper
1 lb (500 g) spaghetti
some cherry tomatoes
½ lb (250 g halloumi
1 teaspoon butter
¾ – 1 cup (200 ml) white wine
Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package.
Wash the herbs (you can also use the stems if they are soft and green) and put them into a food processor. Cut the avocados in halves, remove the stone and scoop the green flesh of the fruits out of the peel. Put into the food processor. Also add the cashews, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and process until you get a smooth pesto.
Cut the halloumi into ¼ inch slices and grill on both sides without any oil in a non-stick pan until golden brown. Transfer onto a plate and cover with kitchen foil to keep warm. Melt the butter in the pan, add the wine and allow to reduce by half. Add the drained spaghetti and the pesto and combine well. Serve with the halloumi and the cherry tomatoes.
Note: If you don’t want to use any alcohol in your cooking, substitute the wine with 1 cup of spaghetti cooking water or grape juice.
And here is the recipe for printing:
- 3 avocados
- 1 handful of mixed herbs (e.g. rosemary, thyme, marjoram, sage, parsley, basil)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 ½ oz (75 g) cashew nuts, salted
- 1 lemon (juice)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- salt, pepper
- 1 lb (500 g) spaghetti
- some cherry tomatoes
- ½ lb (250 g halloumi
- 1 teaspoon butter
- ¾ – 1 cup (200 ml) white wine
- Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package.
- Wash the herbs (you can also use the stems if they are soft and green) and put them into a food processor. Cut the avocados in halves, remove the stone and scoop the green flesh of the fruits out of the peel. Put into the food processor. Also add the cashews, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and process until you get a smooth pesto.
- Cut the halloumi into ¼ inch slices and grill on both sides without any oil in a non-stick pan until golden brown. Transfer onto a plate and cover with kitchen foil to keep warm. Melt the butter in the pan, add the wine and allow to reduce by half. Add the drained spaghetti and the pesto and combine well. Serve with the halloumi and the cherry tomatoes.
