No, I am not making this up -- we bought three avocados the other day to make guacamole for a dinner, and only used two. A glance through older Italian cookbooks yielded nothing at all, because the vegetable was completely unknown in Italy until quite recently, and Italian cooks are only just beginning to think about what to do with it. And just in time; Elisabetta called to tell me she had found an avocado frittata in a magazine at her mom's. We had the other ingredients too, so I tried it.
Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes
Ingredients:
- The flesh of an avocado, diced
- A medium onion, peeled
- A small bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and ribbed (mine was yellow, but red will look nicer)
- A fresh habanero pepper, stemmed and seeded (quite optional, but we had it)
- 6 eggs, beaten for about a minute with a fork, adding a splash of water
- 1 plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, chopped, and drained, or 2/3 cup chopped canned tomatoes
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt to taste, and pepper too if you choose not to include the habanero pepper
Preparation:
Coarsely chop the onion and the pepper, and slice the habanero (if you're using it) into strips. Combine the peppers and onion and chop them finely in a blender.
Heat the olive oil in a broad skillet, and sauté the onion mixture over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes; I added a sprinkling of salt at this stage.
Add the tomato and the diced avocado, and cook, stirring to mix well, for about a minute. I opted for the canned tomatoes, opening a 400 g (a bit less than a pound) can and adding half.
When the mixture is heated through add the beaten eggs, a pinch of salt, and stir gently to mix all together. When the filling and eggs are mixed, stop stirring and let the frittata cook until the edges are set.
The recipe Elisabetta dictated to me said to fluff it up at this point and I did, and then covered it and turned off the heat; the result, after a minute, was something firm and fluffy that was mid-way between a frittata and scrambled eggs, and though its appearance was such that I decided not to take a picture, it was surprisingly good.
But hot; if you are not a fan of spicy foods leave the habanero pepper out. Why did I include it? Because Elisabetta found fresh habaneros on sale in a market, and since they are difficult to come by in Italy she bought some. We like them.
Yield: 4 servings avocado scrambled eggs. Served with a tossed salad and a crisp wine along the lines of a Vermentino dei Colli di Luni it will make for a nice light lunch.
Heat the olive oil in a broad skillet, and sauté the onion mixture over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes; I added a sprinkling of salt at this stage.
Add the tomato and the diced avocado, and cook, stirring to mix well, for about a minute. I opted for the canned tomatoes, opening a 400 g (a bit less than a pound) can and adding half.
When the mixture is heated through add the beaten eggs, a pinch of salt, and stir gently to mix all together. When the filling and eggs are mixed, stop stirring and let the frittata cook until the edges are set.
The recipe Elisabetta dictated to me said to fluff it up at this point and I did, and then covered it and turned off the heat; the result, after a minute, was something firm and fluffy that was mid-way between a frittata and scrambled eggs, and though its appearance was such that I decided not to take a picture, it was surprisingly good.
But hot; if you are not a fan of spicy foods leave the habanero pepper out. Why did I include it? Because Elisabetta found fresh habaneros on sale in a market, and since they are difficult to come by in Italy she bought some. We like them.
Yield: 4 servings avocado scrambled eggs. Served with a tossed salad and a crisp wine along the lines of a Vermentino dei Colli di Luni it will make for a nice light lunch.
