Wholly Guacamole

Guacamole- Semplice & Delizioso

Simple & Delicious Guacamole

It ended up being a little late by the time I got home this evening, so although cooking a meal was not completely out of the question... it was also not something that I felt compelled to do at 9.30pm. But still, there was more than just a simple nagging hunger there and something needed to be done about it... and fast!

Luckily for me, the avocado that I picked up at the market hall on Saturday was perfectly ripe this Tuesday evening- don't I always say that one of the most important skills to master in cooking is timing? Haha! All kidding aside- guacamole is a great dish at any time, especially when you are short for time. I had plenty of fresh cilantro, a few cherry tomatoes, some Feta cheese, a fresh lime and some smoked paprika... and I had pita bread... which was all that I needed to make a satisfying little meal to end the day.

There are loads of recipes out there for making guacamole, so there is no need for me to start making and great claims and pronouncements about how to make THE original or authentic guacamole... anything goes as long as you like the way it tastes as far as I'm concerned- there are just a couple of basics that always reply and the rest is all up to you.

Also... as with most things that I cook, more often than not, the ingredients vary and change depending on what I have at home at the time and also, sure- depending on my mood. Sometimes I am in the mood for subtle and mild, other times I am in the mood for hot and spicy... just like in real life! And in real life, things would get pretty boring if you always did things in the same way... So let me tell you how I made my guacamole this evening- and let's find out if you like the look and sound of it too!

I started off, of course, by halving the avocado, discarding the stone and scoring it with a knife in a criss-cross pattern, so that I could simply press-out the chunks of avocado... the quickest, easiest, least messy and most fun way of doing it.

I then added a finely sliced Spring onion- a half of a small red onion would also have been nice... but you know- sometimes you just have to work with what you have! I then added a good handful of finely chopped cilantro and the juice of half a lime, stirred everything through well and got back to my chopping board...

The next thing that I added were 5-6 finely diced cherry tomatoes, a light drizzle of olive oil and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Basically, that was all that needed to be done- all that needed to happen now was for the ingredients to blend together a little, for 5-10 minutes or so... in which time I got busy toasting some Pita bread to enjoy my guacamole with.

Now, you may have one of those fancy "panini presses"- but I dear readers, do not... so what I did, was to heat up my cast iron griddle, to set my pita bread onto it and to place a saucepan on top of it to weigh it down- or better still, for me to press down on and to squeeze the bread onto the griddles and to give it a nice, golden and crusty pattern.

A sprinkle of crumbled Feta cheese added a touch of richness and some good seasoning and a dusting of smoked paprika powder added a hint of heat and an extra blast of flavor in contrast to the mild and tangy avocado.

So even when you are pushed for time, tired, or simply not in the mood to start some huge production in the kitchen- you can be sure that there will always be some simple and satisfying little dish like this one that you can rustle up in next-to-no-time. Of course... if you make it as delicious as this one was, you may well be finishing it off in next-to-no-time too! But as long as you enjoy it... well- that is the main thing!