Avocado and Basil Pesto: A favorite small bite

It was the best thing I had ever eaten and it only cost three dollars, a bold statement considering it was such a small bite, no larger than my palm.

When I first noticed it on the menu, I had decided to order it simply because it was inexpensive and had avocado. It was deceptive in how it arived on the plate, just a sliver off of a baguette a slice of toasted bread otherwise known as crostini. Then there was the pesto but not so much pesto that it was falling off the sides, over the ends of the bread. It was your garden-variety basil pesto, made from pine nuts, olive oil and large, fresh, just-out-of-the-ground leaves of basil.

So it wasn’t because of the pesto. What really made this dish was the large amount of avocado as it was served with one half, yes one full half right a top the crostini, of that a ripened dome of sweet creaminess with a greenish-yellowish mellow hue that is the Hass avocado. Though it was a small bite, a crostini will never taste so pleasing, that is until I have my next dish with avocado.

A meal filled in by monounsaturated fats of grassy green olive oil, avocado, and polyunsaturated fat of pine nuts. Have you ever heard any wrong telling of the unhealthy avocado? Well I haven’t and if it may exist on this account it will always be, and no, not to my knowledge.

I went home to replicate this dish. I added tomato and on occasion fresh lime juice, home chef advantage. All what I, non scientist, can and do assume are healthy fats, and on their own, each delightful, together the best combination of raw form foods.

Avocado and Pesto Crostini

The restaurant where I had this dish used french bread. I’ve found that ciabatta also works very well. When deciding what type of bread to use make sure that it has a crisp, light texture, then you can be sure it will offset the soft creaminess of the avocado.

Layout a nice slice of whatever you’re using. Slather on the pesto and then add a large, full half of the avocado. Either by slicing it by half as in the photo or by using a rounder, fuller oval slice of bread and laying it right on top after you’ve peeled back the skin.

The use of fresh herbs with a quality olive oil insures intense flavor!

Basil Pesto

• 2cups fresh basil, packed tightly
• 1cup pine nuts
• 1/4cup parmesan cheese (optional)
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste

To make the pesto, in a food processor or blender, first add pine nuts, pulse a few times to break large pieces, add basil and cheese if using, pulse a few more times unitl nuts and basil of are equal size. Then, while the food procesor is on, in a steady stream add the olive oil. Add the sea salt and pepper to taste. Makes 1 3/4 cup pesto.