This is an oldie and impressive goodie in my recipe book! I learned this recipe when I was visiting my friend who was in the Peace Corps in Swaziland. He learned it from this German guy whose sister lived in Florence. What?!?

This delicious recipe is simple and elegant. It relies on a few fresh ingredients and is topped off with caviar! Not caviar caviar. I use its humbler cousin: lumpfish caviar. If you can’t find it at your local supermarket, you can buy it online. They even sell it at Walmart! Without further ado, I give you:

Green Florentine Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Whole Wheat pasta (rotini or some other curlicue shape)
• 2 small ripe avocados
• Large handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
• 2 ounces of lumpfish caviar (that’s the size of the jar)
• Olive oil
• Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1. Boil water and cook pasta (9-10 minutes until al dente)
2. While the pasta is cooking:
   1. Cut avocados in half. To make bite size squares, score the inside of each side of the avocado first diagonally one direction then turn and score in the other direction (approximately three lines of scoring in each direction). Turn the avocado inside out and the squares should pop out into the large mixing bowl.
   2. Roughly chop the basil and add to mixing bowl.
3. When the past is done, strain completely and add to mixing bowl.
4. Add the caviar in spoonfuls across the top of the pasta.
5. Use the same amount of olive oil as you would in dressing a salad.
6. Grind fresh pepper, toss the whole thing and voila: dinner for four.

This pasta dish is easily halved and great cold. The bad news is that I rarely have any leftovers!