Tricolor Baked Avocado with Pesto Garlic Bread

The smooth skinned, green avocados are in season here at the moment. Where we walk the dog there are thousands of avocado trees and sometimes, if it has been windy, there will be a windfall or two. Gifts from heaven if you like.

For a change I wanted to make a dish where the avocado was the star rather than just being an ingredient in a salad or made into a guacamole. You can cook avocado, it intensifies the flavour and makes it even more creamy in my opinion. 

 This is a dish that The Washer Up and I came up with when we first moved to Spain and lived with my dad. It’s a hot Tricolor salad really. The avocado is surrounded by a pool of your favourite tomato pasta sauce, topped with sliced or ripped mozzarella and strewn with fresh basil leaves. 

This is a brilliant, quick and easy weekday lunch or supper if you can’t be bothered with long winded recipes and it is great for using up odd bits of cheese too. I’ve made it with crumbled feta, grated cheddar and our classic gouda with cumin seeds. When we first moved to Spain my dad introduced us to Gouda with cumin seeds, I haven’t had it for ages, it’s definitely been too long………..(Goes to write Gouda with Cumin Seeds on shopping list).

Recently, I served it with my pesto garlic bread and it is a fabulous combination, a true match made in heaven.

Tricolor Baked Avocado with Pesto Garlic Bread

serves 2, vegetarian

Prep time: 5 mins Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes

• 1 or 2 avocados, depending on size & how hungry you are
• 1 jar tomato pasta/marinara sauce
• 1 ball mozzarella, sliced or ripped
• fresh basil leaves
• olive oil/chilli oil
• salt & black pepper

You need two smallish ovenproof dishes. Preheat oven to 200 C.

Put one (or two) half (ves) of an avocado in the centre of each dish. Pour enough pasta sauce around each avocado to cover the bottom of the dish.  Lay the pieces of mozzarella around the avocado, top with some basil leaves, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with little olive/chilli oil.

Bake in the preheated for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and slightly browned.

For the Pesto Garlic Bread

serves 2, vegetarian

Prep time 10 minutes Cooking time 15 minutes

(Can be cooked at the same time as the avocado)

• A half baguette/ciabatta (part baked or fully baked)
• about 45 gr softened butter/spread
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• a big handful fresh basil leaves
• 30 gr manchego/parmesan finely grated
• olive oil
• salt & black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 C.  Blend all the ingredients except the bread in a processor until well combined.

Slice baguette (but not all the way through so that it still holds together) into 2 inch pieces. Generously spread the pesto butter in the gaps between the slices. Wrap the bread in foil and bake for about 10 minutes. Unwrap the foil and bake for a further 5 or so minutes until browned.

Serve immedialtely with the baked avocado and dunk the pesto garlic bread in the hot tomatoey sauce….

Things That Made Me Smile Today…………..

Anouschka in the washing basket………

Rufus looking very elegant in his pink bandana…… don’t blame me he chooses the pink one very time!!