Creamy Avocado Basil Lemon Chicken Pasta

Delicious pasta, chicken, lemon, fresh basil, and avocados come together to create this sophisticated yet simple to prepare Creamy Avocado Basil Lemon Chicken Pasta. Skip your traditional sauce and give this vibrant dish a try!

One thing my whole house can agree on when it comes to food is pasta, I know that my family is not alone in that. Pasta graces more tables come dinner time than just about any other staple. Did you know that the average American, eats 51 pounds of pasta each year?  I’m willing to bet that both of my kids eat way more than that!

At this year’s Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City, I was introduced to Academia Barilla. Barilla Pasta is always in my pantry, so I was very excited to discover that a brand I trust has a gourmet line restaurant-quality pasta.

Barilla is Italy’s #1 selling brand of pasta.  The new gourmet line of Academia Barilla, made with non-GMO ingredients, is restaurant-quality pasta. The magic begins with Aureo durum wheat grown by a small group of hand-selected Italian farmers. The pasta dough is pressed through traditional bronze dies to create a perfectly rough texture, hydrating more quickly upon cooking and capturing more sauce for the perfect flavor experience in every delicious bite. Academia Barilla’s products are made with the best ingredients and support local artisans, regional differences, and innovation while maintaining tradition. Taste the difference! 

Avocados are a nutritional powerhouse! Pairing avocado with pasta is not only smart, it’s fork after fork of creamy deliciousness! Making this Creamy Avocado Basil Lemon Chicken Pasta is easy. By the time the water is boiling for the pasta, you have just about made your sauce.  All you need to add is a bit of your pasta water and your sauce is complete. You can choose to add some shredded chicken to the sauce or enjoy it meatless or with a sprinkling of crumbled bacon. It’s your call. Choosing to use a store-bought rotisserie chicken (or breast) makes this dinner a snap!

This Creamy Avocado Basil Lemon Chicken Pasta is so good, like wiggle in your chair while you eat with happiness good! My husband was not into the idea of this the first time I made it at all and then just kept saying over and over how he couldn’t believe how much he likes it (score one for me!!). It’s funny, he will eat a little guac, but that’s it for him when it comes to avocados (sigh…I know!!). In his mind avocados and cilantro go hand in hand and he wants nothing and I mean nothing to do with cilantro,  which is why I went with basil in this sauce, and I have to say as a cilantro lover (and testing out both basil and cilantro)…Basil is the way to go here!

This is seriously one of my favorite pasta dishes now, the Creamy Avocado Basil Lemon Chicken Pasta sauce is so incredibly fresh tasting. If you enjoy spicy food, add in as much red pepper or jalapeno as you like. Oh and here’s a tip from the chefs at Academia Barilla. When you salt your pasta water before boiling, it should taste like the sea. Gordon Ramsay says that too. So I listen 🙂

One lucky winner will receive an assortment of Academia Barilla! One winner per household, email address, or home address. If you have won this prize on another blog you are ineligible to win again. Winner must have a U.S.-based address to receive the prize.

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Avocado Lemon Pasta & Chicken

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

11 mins

Total time

21 mins

 

Author: Colleen Kennedy

Serves: 3

Ingredients

• ½ pound Academia Barilla Pasta Linguini
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 TBS chopped jalapeno (up to a whole jalapeno)
• ⅓ cup Basil
• 2 avocados, skins and pit removed.
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup pasta water
• ¼ cup grapeseed, avocado or olive oil
• Kosher salt & pepper
• Basil, grated Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese & lemon zest for garnish
• Shredded chicken

Instructions

1. In your food processor or power blender, pulse garlic, jalapeno, basil, avocado and lemon juice until almost smooth.
2. Drizzle in oil and pulse until smooth.
3. Add in hot pasta water until sauce reaches the consistency you enjoy (1/4 cup to ½ cup).
4. Season, pulse, taste and adjust.
5. Toss with shredded chicken (if you are using it).
6. Toss sauce and pasta (with or without shredded chicken) in a bowl until evenly coated, portion out the pasta and then garnish with grated Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese & lemon zest. If you want more spice, sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
7. Enjoy!

Notes

Depending on how spicy you enjoy your food, use a small amount up to a whole jalapeno (with or without the seeds depending on your preference for heat AND how hot your jalapeno is).
Always test a jalapeno before using it in a dish due to the incredible range it may have from mild to very spicy.
The sauce is meant to be enjoyed fresh since the avocado will discolor.

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