Vegetable and Edamame Pasta with Avocado-Basil Cream Sauce

This recipe was made for me. Vegetables, edamame, and an avocado-basil cream sauce. Don’t let the words “cream sauce” make you wince in fear of pondering the fat content. It tastes cream-based but there is absolutely NO cream/dairy in this sauce! It gets its creaminess from the avocado. It is a comforting pasta dish and is surprisingly exploding with flavor. I’ve made it three times now and it is easy, quick, full of protein, and tastes amazing every single time.

I cut the recipe in half and it still yielded a lot of pasta. I shared with my neighbors and I had some for lunch the next day. I didn’t think it would taste good heated up for lunch the next day because of the avocado but I was wrong! It tasted just as good and I didn’t see any browning of the sauce. I found this recipe via Pinterest on Oh She Glows.

Be careful with the hot pepper flakes! I generally LOVE spicy hot food but I overdid it the first time with the red pepper flakes. You can always add more if you need more heat! You can substitute regular noodles for whole grain noodles, which is what I did. Also, I really love tomatoes and think that they add a lot of good flavor so I like to throw in a few extra.

Be sure to note that frozen edamame is sometimes labeled as “mukamame” and can be found in the frozen vegetables section right next to the edamame. I checked Whole Foods and Cub Foods but could not find it. Target had it but it was mixed with the regular edamame bags so be sure to look thoroughly! You can always call the store ahead of time to ask if they carry an item you’re looking for. 

Enjoy!