Did I mention awesome?
Nothing beats the nutty, creamy taste of a ripe avocado, and this oven baked avocado recipe really shows off the characteristics of the decadent fruit. The avocado is baked lightly and served warm with a tangy tomato sauce and sweet cashew coulis, the entire stack resting on a bed of lightly fried vegetables.
This baked avocado recipe was inspired by one served at London's 222 Veggie Vegan restaurant. Similar but not quite the same, I promise this avocado recipe won't disappoint.
If you're a bit weary of baking avocado, just go ahead and give it a try. It sounds odd, but the only difference is the fruit is a) warmer and b) creamier. The former adjective, I realise, would appear to be a given seeing as this is a baked avocado recipe, but sometimes common sense comes at a premium. I may be talking about myself.
Layering the avostack
Avostack. What an excellent word.
Look, you're not going to screw up how it tastes so long as you have the four basic components: the tomato sauce, the baked avocado slices, the fried vegetables, and the cream sauce. Still, think of it in terms of two basic chunks of layering. First the fried julienned vegetables go down with a bit of yoghurt sauce and basil.
After that you simply want to layer the avocado slices with tomato sauce and top with a bit of both sauces and the remaining basil. Really, I promise, this baked avocado recipe looks a whole lot fancier than it actually is to put together.
Oven Baked Avocado "Avostack" Recipe
- Directions/Method
- Preheat your oven to 150° C (300° F) while preparing the vegetables. Thinly julienne the carrot and celery and dice the shallots very finely. Melt the butter over medium heat and lightly fry the vegetables for five minutes, or until soft. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Set aside and cover to keep warm.
- Use a nut grinder or pestle and mortar to blend the yoghurt, cashews, lemon juice, sweetener, and garlic into a smooth and runny-ish paste.
- De-seed the avocados and slice each one into four slices lengthways (yes, that's halving each half). Brush all sides with a bit of lemon juice to prevent any browning. Place on a tray and bake for 8 minutes.
- While the avocado is baking, heat the tomato sauce. Get two plates ready, warmed if possible.
- Spoon the vegetable mixture evenly into the centre of each plate, spreading to about a 10cm oblong circle. Drizzle with some of the creamy yoghurt sauce. Top with some of the fresh basil.
- Place a slice of avocado on each and spoon about a teaspoon of sauce over. Repeat with remaining avocado until each plate has 4 slices stacked. Top with some more tomato sauce and drizzle some more of the yoghurt sauce over. Sprinkle with the rest of the basil and serve warm.