All right! Let's get the ingredients together. I fed four people with this batch of alfredo---it doesn't reheat particularly well, and since presentation is important with guests over, it's best to make this for the number of people you'll be serving.


Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo With Avocado and Spinach


pasta:
2 birds' nests of fettucini (or your favorite pasta) per person (I used 8 nests)

alfredo:
0.5 cups cream
0.5 cups (1 stick) butter
1 cup parmjeganno-reggiano cheese, grated (this was my birthday dinner so we used the real stuff. Feel free to get parmesan that's pre-grated if you don't want to go over budget, but the powdered stuff in a green can will not work.)
5-10 sun dried tomato strips I'm using just dry-storage ones here, if you want a more brightly colored alfredo you can use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
more sun dried tomato strips for garnish
optional: cracked black pepper, garlic, onion, other seasonings

greenery:
0.5 avocado per person
1 bunch of spinach
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If you're cooking alone, cut up the avocados next. If you have helpers for stirring, you can start making the alfredo, and leave your helpers to stir while you're cubing... but in case you're doing all the fun work yourself, I'll show my avocado cutting technique here.

We never ate avocados grown up, so once I learned how delicious they could be (thank you, guacamole!) I just tried to mangle my way through them, sometimes getting fancy enough to make slices, but usually just scooping bites out with a spoon. It was about the same story for mangoes, but the restaurant/bakery I worked at in college served mango scones. I wondered and wondered how they could cube the mangoes... until I sat down and figured this out. Now both mangoes and avocados can be easily and prettily served.

Maybe some of you already knew this---but it was a big development for me and my cooking, and since some folks here haven't had avocados before, I thought I'd share!

Cut the avocado in half---you'll hit the seed halfway through, just slice around it and twist the halves to separate them. Then pop out the seed.

Now take your two seedless half-avocados, and cut a checkerboard pattern into them with a knife. Cut all the way down to the skin, but don't cut through the skin.

Now press your fingers into the center of the avocado's skin, holding the edges still with your thumbs. All the little cubes should pop out, and you can pull them off the skin with your fingers. So much prettier than the mangled messes I used to make!




Avocado trees will only product fruit if they are grown in full sun---but they also need to be protected from strong winds, which can easily damage their branches.
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