Avocado Spread
Avocado in a blender turns gluey and slick, and it also starts to taste faintly bitter — over-worked flesh does that. A fork does the job better: twenty or thirty strokes against the side of the bowl leave pieces you can actually feel. The lime goes in at that moment, not at the end, because the acid starts slowing the browning immediately.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Total
- 15 min
- Servings
- 6
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 200 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Lemon works instead of lime, but use a little less — it is sharper and easily overrides the avocado.
Makes: about 450 g, serves 6
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Check ripeness
Press near the stem end: it should give slightly. Rock-hard fruit will not mash, and dark stringy flesh means it is past its best.
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Step 2: Mash with a fork
Scoop out the flesh and mash it against the bowl, 20 to 30 strokes. Keep some lumps — a uniform purée feels like glue in the mouth.
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Step 3: Add lime at once
Pour in the lime juice at this same step. The acid slows oxidation so the spread does not grey while you are still making it.
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Step 4: Prep the sharp bits
Chop the onion very finely and rinse it, deseed the chilli, and crush the garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt.
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Step 5: Fold it together
Stir in the onion, chilli, garlic, coriander and olive oil. Chop the tomatoes and add them last so they do not bleed juice.
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Step 6: Salt at the end
Season just before serving. Salt added earlier draws water out of the tomatoes and the spread goes loose.
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Step 7: Serve
Serve within the hour. If it has to wait, press cling film flat onto the surface — it is contact with air that turns it brown.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Leaving the stone in the bowl does nothing for browning; that is a myth. Only film pressed to the surface, or acid, actually helps.
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Variation
Two spoonfuls of charred corn and some black beans turn this into a proper dip for nachos.
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Swap
Lemon works instead of lime, but use a little less — it is sharper and easily overrides the avocado.
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Storage
Honestly one day, under film pressed to the surface, and you will still scrape the top layer off. Make it the day you serve it.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 6 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 200 kcal | 1,200 kcal |
| Protein | 3 g | 18 g |
| Fat | 18 g | 108 g |
| Carbohydrates | 9 g | 54 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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