Did you know that there are over one and a half million pictures of avocado on toast on Instagram? Amongst this incredible number are celebrity contributors including Meryl Streep and Gwyneth Paltrow? Now I am not exactly sure that the world needs another recipe, or in fact any recipe for such an instinctively simple dish. If I am honest, I was never really a fan of avocados, I think what elevates the dish is what you add to it starting with a perfect soft boiled egg. Add a couple of slices of maple grilled streaky bacon. Smoked salmon and crunchy radishes. Crumbled feta and chill flakes. Any of these and you have a very tasty breakfast or brunch dish. So I’m going to jump on the avocado for breakfast bandwagon.
A bit of History
No one really knows who popularised the now classic smashed avocado but Californians have been serving small canapes of avocado for over a hundred years. The dish really exploded in popularity in the 1990’s and chef Bill Granger included it on his Sydney cafe menu. The British food writer Nigel Slater wrote a recipe for Guardian newspaper for an avocado bruschetta. Now avocado on toast is a favourite of millennial’s and a staple on menus around the world. The dish is so popular it has been suggested that it has caused a massive spike in the cost of avocados.
Avocado on Toast
Ingredients
- 4 ripe Avocados
- 6 medium free-range Eggs
- 4 large slices of Sourdough
- 80 gram Jersey Butter
- 40 gram Pine nuts
- A splash Tabasco Sauce
- Jersey Sea Salt and freshly cracked Black Pepper
Instructions
- To toast your pine nuts, heat a heavy bottomed sauté pan over a medium-high heat and add the pine nuts. Toss over the heat until the pine nuts turn light brown. This can be done in advance and then store them in an air-tight container.
How to cook your Eggs
- Half fill a medium sized pan of with water, enough to generously cover your eggs, and bring to a simmer. Carefully lower the eggs into gently boiling water with a spoon and start your timer. For a soft-boiled egg with the white just set cook for four minutes. Cook for a further minute if you like your eggs a little firmer and for a firmer egg for this recipe cook for six minutes.
- If you prefer your eggs hard-boiled egg, start them in cold water and bring up to the boil. Once the eggs are simmering set the timer for ten minutes. When your eggs are cooked to your personal preference, remove from the heat and quickly plunge into a sink full of cold water for one minute. This will arrest the cooking process. Crack the egg shells with the back of a spoon and carefully peel. They will still be very warm.
- While your eggs are cooking, toast the sour dough, butter and peel and roughly break up the avocados. Carefully halve the eggs. Arrange the avocados on the toast with the eggs.
- Sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts, splash with Tabasco and season generously.
Notes
