15 Minute Holy Guacamole Pasta Sauce!

I was on my way to meet Nina when I made a dish of this avocado spaghetti. I wanted to try it before I saw her because I knew that she would like it. The idea came to me a few days before when I had some guacamole left over as well as some cooked spaghetti. I combined the two as you do when you are hungry and time poor and I was impressed at how tasty it was. So I made up a variation of this using avocado and some Woolworths Gold Extra Virgin Olive oil to give the sauce a creamier, silkier texture.

Apart from the health benefits of using avocado, olive oil and garlic in the sauce, the whole dish is done in less than 15 minutes. While the spaghetti cooks you process the sauce in a blender or food processor and you have a gorgeously creamy spaghetti bursting with goodness. Nina suggested making this even healthier by using zucchini pasta. Of course I just made it with pasta - one step at a time!

Some of my Dear Readers have emailed me asking how my personal training sessions are going. I'm pleased to say that I am still working out with my sadistic trainer Nina. Okay she's not sadistic at all, actually she's very lovely and brings me healthy brownies, herbs and chillies. In return I moan a lot, whimper and ask if we can include nap time as part of the workout session. She is most definitely earning her fee with me...

On the plus side, I'm finding that I can eat more as I develop more muscle (the whole point of the ungodly exercise) and that makes me relieved and happy. I'm not what people would called "ripped" - I'm still light years away from that. I also suspect that my joy about as close as I'll ever get to those ever absent endorphins.

So tell me Dear Reader, what oil or oils do you use mostly when cooking? And do you get endorphins or a high after a workout?

Holy Guacamole Pasta Sauce!

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

Preparation time: 8 minutes concurrently

Cooking time: 8 minutes

• 500g/1 pound Woolworths Gold spaghetti
• 1 large or 2 medium ripe avocadoes (total weight about 400g/14ozs total weight with skin and pit)
• 20g/0.7oz red onion, peeled
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1-2 long red chillies (use just 1 if you don't like it too spicy)
• 6-8 tablespoons /120ml-160ml/4-5.6flozs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• salt and black pepper
• 12 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives

Step 1 - Boil spaghetti in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente.

Step 2 - While the spaghetti is boiling, process the onion, garlic cloves and chilli. Remove the flesh from the avocados and add it to the processor along with the olive oil and lime juice. Add the sugar and then some salt and pepper. Taste to see whether it needs more salt. Once it is seasoned properly place the lid on the processor.

Step 3 - Drain the spaghetti and run it under cold water. Place it in a bowl and pour the sauce over it and then toss to coat evenly. Season tomatoes with salt and serve with the pasta. Sprinkle with chives (please don't forget them like I did-oops!).