Hot ´n Cold - Avocado Lime Pasta w/ Ajvar Meatballs

Flicking through a german women´s magazine, an article about "Cooking without cooking" caught my eye. Bottom line: light, refreshing food that works hot as good as cold and is really easy to whip up - no more than 20 minutes needed. The recipes can be found here.

Since I had another avocado sitting on the counter, I decided to try the Pasta with Avocado-Lime-Sauce. But, since it was a rather cold day today, I wanted to spice it up a bit, and try it hot rather than cold. And that proved to be a really good idea.


Sorry for the undefinable picture - now I know why in the magazine, they picture the single components rather than the readily mixed up dish... but oh well. Next time, I´ll know better.

The recipe is really quick: mix avocado, lime juice, sour cream and spices, mix with pasta. Tada.
I wanted to kick it up a notch, and I had ground beef sitting in the fridge, and a glass of Ajvar, a turkish bell pepper paste. So I combined the beef with a shallot, a clove of garlic and the ajvar, formed little meat balls and seared them in a pan. Added them to the pasta, et voilá.

You can also serve this as a pasta salad - just let cool, pack tightly and take on the road for your next picnic!

Recipe for Pasta with Avocado and Lime w/ Ajvar Meatballs


Ingredients for 2-3

200g pasta
100g sour cream
1 avocado, ripe
1 lime
salt, pepper,
chili
1 tablespoon brown sugar

250g ground beef
salt, pepper
3 tablespoons ajvar



Preparation

1. Bring water to a boil. Add salt and pasta, cook as directed.
2. Meanwhile, half avocado and scrape out flesh. Add lime juice and sour cream and puree with your hand blender. Season to taste with salt, pepper, chili and brown sugar.
3. Mix ground beef with ajvar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Form small meatballs.
4. Heat a pan and sear meatballs on high. Reduce heat and cook for a couple more minutes.
5. Place an kitchen towel to soak up excessive fat.
6. In a large bowl, combine pasta, avocado sauce and meatballs. Stir and either serve straight away or let cool completely and serve cold.

Guten Appetit! Enjoy your meal! Bon Appétit!