I know this is not avocado season, at least not in my part of the world. However, on my last trip to the grocery store I found a deal on California avocados I couldn’t refuse, three for four dollars. Avocados are one of those foods I can never turn down, no matter how they are prepared.

Every time I get avocados I remember the trips I used to take with my dad to Central de Abasto in Mexico City, one of the biggest wholesale markets in the world, to buy goods for the family restaurant. My dad would make sure to get ripe avocados, ready to eat the very next day, along with mildly ripe and unripe ones for the rest of the week. It was a matter of slightly squeezing them to test their firmness. I used to think that it was a skill very hard to master, but as time went by I learned to do it just like a pro. Now, when I get more than three avocados at a time, I make sure I get them the same way, from ripe to unripe depending on when I am planning to use them.

One of the avocados I picked was perfectly ripe. I was planning to eat it with a tuna salad the very next day, but when later that night I was debating what to make for dinner I had a better idea. Why not an Alfredo avocado sauce? I wondered. So I got my pasta boiling and my chicken broiling to go with what turned out to be another green dinner.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/3 cup butter
• ½ cups heavy cream
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• the juice of half a lime
• salt and ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Peel and cut the avocado in small cubes. It is important that it is ripe so it blends with the sauce.
2. Cook all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly until they blend perfectly together.
3. Serve over noodles.

About this recipe:

You might add more Parmesan cheese or heavy cream depending on how thick you want the sauce.
Everybody has a different way to cook pasta. I boil the water first with a lot of salt, basil and half an onion. When the water is boiling evenly I add the noodles and let them cook for ten minutes. I drain them and remove the onion, dump them back in the pot and add olive oil or margarine and stir while they are still hot.

I didn’t take a picture of this dish because the batteries on my camera died right before dinner when I was about to take the picture. But I liked it so much that I am planning to make it again when one of the remaining avocadoes ripens. I promise to upload some pictures then.

Buen provecho!