I needed to make something for a cookout and I wanted to make something that reminded me of pasta salad and could be served cold. I also wanted to incorporate avocado because I had found this cool recipe that used avocado to make a creamy sauce.

I had two concerns – 1) what could I substitute for pasta salad that is grain free? and 2) would green sauce totally turn people off? (kind of like green eggs and ham…).

I decided that summer squash and zucchini would make nice pappardelle “noodles” without any cooking. And, if I turned the avocado sauce into a pesto sauce, then green sauce becomes something familiar. The cucumbers add a nice crunch to the salad for texture contrast.

This was a nice, easy recipe to make. It is rich, so a small serving size is appropriate. I will warn you, don’t make a huge batch of this and expect it to keep well for leftovers – it just doesn’t. It’s best served fresh 😉

For this recipe, you will need:

3 small-medium zucchinis
2 small-medium summer squash (yellow squash)
4 persian cucumbers
2 avocados, peeled and cubed
2 lemons, juiced
0.75 oz. fresh basil
4 T. olive oil
6 T. raw milk goat pecorino cheese, grated
4 T. garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

First, cut of the ends of the squash and zucchini and make pappardelle “noodles” using a hand held peeler.

Next, prepare the pesto sauce. For this I used a medium sized food processor. You could also use a good blender.

Add the avocado, lemon juice, fresh basil, olive oil, 4.5 oz. of pecorino cheese, minced garlic, and salt and pepper to the food processor bowl or blender. The lemon juice helps prevent the avocado from oxidizing to a muddled brown color.

Mix until the ingredients are well blended and the consistency is nice and creamy.

Now, dice the persian cucumbers into small quartered pieces.

Add the zucchini, squash and cucumbers to a large mixing bowl.

Add the pesto sauce to mixing bowl and gently toss with your hands. Make sure all “noodles” are lightly coated.

Sprinkle with the leftover pecorino.

Mangia e buon appetito!

– Nicole

Note, if you don’t want to use dairy, this recipe holds well without it. You can garnish with some freshly chopped basil 😉