Ingredients

• Pasta of your choice
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon sliced almonds
• 1 lemon, for zest and juice
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• Fresh Pepper
• 1 medium avocado

Instructions

1. Add the pasta to a pot of well-salted boiling water and cook to al dente. As you drain the pasta, reserve ¼ cup of pasta water for the pesto.
2. Meanwhile, in a food processor or blender, add the basil, garlic cloves, almonds, zest from ½ of the lemon, juice from the whole lemon, salt and a few cracks of freshly ground pepper. Blend until chopped, scraping down the sides, if need be. With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until smooth. Add the avocado and blend once more. If the mixture is a bit too thick (mine was), add a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta sauce and blend one last time.
3. Add the sauce to the cooked pasta and toss until thoroughly coated.

Makes 2 servings

via