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Friday, June 5, 2009

Pesto #2: Avocado

Reminder about the BSI challenge with this week's ingredient of choice Bell Pepper. You've got only a couple of days left. (here) Time is ticking away. I can hear the '24' tick-tock ticking right now.

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Pesto #2. That's right. Avocado.

Why not avocado?

Aside from using it as a general spread or what not, add it into some pesto. By golly, it's really good. It brings a nice creaminess to the whole thing. You can still taste the basil along with the added lemon juice. I didn't feel like having pasta two nights in a row. I'm sure it would be great with pasta, but I wanted to make something different.

So I decided to make a some tomato mozzarella sammies. Used it as a spread on the bread. Though I didn't have bread left, but I did have a can of the Pillsbury Creations Flaky Dough Sheet in the fridge. I baked it into a flat bread and cut it into sandwich pieces.

This makes 2 6-inch sub sized or 4 square sandwiches. It filled me just right since the bread was not overly thick.

Avocado Pesto

1 Medium avocado (sliced and pitted)
1 c fresh basil
1/3 c grated parmesan (plus extra)
2 garlic cloves
1/3 c sun-dried tomato with oil
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
salt
pepper


Combine garlic, basil, parmesan, sun-dried tomato with oil, lemon juice and avocado in a food processor or blender. Grind until a paste like consistency. Season with a little salt and pepper.

If you've got some leftover or will not be immediately using the pesto, tightly cover the with plastic wrap to help prevent any oxidation and place in the fridge.

Here's a way to make pesto by hand: Reserve the oil from the sun-dried tomato in a bowl. On a chopping board, finely chop the garlic, then gradually begin chopping in the basil. Don't do it all at once or it will be a big mess. Do the scrap and chop method until you get a near mince. Do the same method with the pine nuts, parmesan, avocado and sun-dried tomato, minus the oil, until you get a paste like consistency. Mix in some salt and pepper to taste. Place the mixture in another bowl then drizzle in the reserved olive oil from the sun-dried tomato.


Mozzarella Tomato Sandwich

1 can Pillsbury creation flaky dough sheet or pizza dough. (or your bread of choice - toasted)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
6-8 Cherry Tomatoes (quartered)
Avocado Pesto
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In a small bowl, toss the cherry tomatoes in a little drizzle of olive oil. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375˚F

Roll out the Pillsbury dough on a making sheet and bake for 15 min. or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cut into 4 rectangles or 8 squares.

Turn the heat on to the broiler.

Spread a nice even layer of pesto on both bottoms of the bread, then sprinkle a nice helping of mozzarella on both.

Place the cherry tomatoes on which ever sides will be the bottom of the sandwich.

On a baking sheet, place the sandwich in the broiler for 2-3 min until the cheese is melted.

Place the top over and enjoy!



Thought Iadd this last one to show the pesto itself, since
you can't really see it well in the sandwich.

33 comments:

Unknown said...

I totally WANT that sandwich :). I bet these flavours go really good together. Its smart of you to use lemon here because otherwise the avocado would go brown. This sandwich would also be great with chicken. Avocado and chicken are awesome together.
p.s. Am well versed in all sanrio creatures lol. Its not like i have kids or anything, I am just a big baby! I like batz maru.

Pam said...

Why have I never thought of that? This sandwich look delicious - it would be great with some bacon on it too.

tavolini said...

Yum!! That looks great! How was the Flaky Dough Sheet? Smart to use it as bread. I've got some avocados that have been staring me down, saying "eat me before I go bad!"

Anonymous said...

Great idea! I've been thinking quite a bit lately about all the ingredients that can go into pesto. It almost being summer and all, I suppose! But I didn't think about avocado. It sounds delicious. Did the pesto tend to go brown more quickly?

Dewi said...

Sounds delicious Jenn. Love avocado!

theUngourmet said...

I will eat avocado anytime, anyday!

KennyT said...

Yummy!!!

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

The sammies look great-love the avocado and chicken combo!!

Dana Fallentine said...

Looks delicious!

The Duo Dishes said...

Great idea for flavor. You could spread this on so many things, but a hot veggie sandwich sounds best to us right now.

Denise said...

These look to die for. avocado is one of my favorites

Tangled Noodle said...

Your creativity and originality is boundless! You said the magic word - 'creaminess' - which makes everything and anything that much better. Awesome pesto!

teresa said...

This sounds like absolute HEAVEN! I can't wait to try this!!

Jenn said...

Heavenly Housewife: I would have added chicken, but I didn't have any on hand. =)

Pam: yes, bacon absolutely goes with this.

TavoLini: It's pretty good. I've used in a couple of other stuff. You can do so many dishes with it.

Rebekka: No becuase of the lemon juice. Also if you're not going to use it right away cover it in plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge.

Elra: Thanks.

the ungourmet: me, too.

KennyT: :-)

Sweta: Same here.

Dana: Thanks.

Duo Dishes. Definitely perfect for hot veggie sanwiches.

Denise: Thanks.

Tangled Noodle: creaminess sold it for me too.

Teresa: Hope you enjoy it. =)

Diana said...

Hubba hubba hubba. That sandwich looks craveably delicious! Don't even need meat when there's all that avocado goodness going on!

lisaiscooking said...

That sounds like a great sandwich spread! Now, I'm getting all kinds of ideas like avocado pesto in a turkey bacon blt. Great, I'm hungry again.

Jen @ MyKitchenAddiction.com said...

Wow - that looks fantastic! Now that I have seen them both, I think I did vote for the right pesto! I will be giving this a try!

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

Avocado!!!! That's my other favorite food! The sandwiches look and sound absolutely amazing.

Kristen said...

That is one fine sandwich!

Christo Gonzales said...

thats a cool pesto!

Anonymous said...

man, I feel like you made this just for me! this is just how I like to eat my avocadoes! yuuuuum~

Anonymous said...

The avocado pesto is a great idea! So good in the tomato and mozzarella sandwich - this will be my new favorite!

Jenn said...

Diana: LOL

lisaiscooking: You're hungry again. I'm hungry.

Jen: I knew you'd love it.

Andrea, Kristen, doggy, : Thanks

burpandslurp: maybe I did.

5 Star foodie: This is one of my favs now.

Daily Spud said...

Hey, finally tuning back in to bread+butter after my recent travels to see you're being as inventive as ever :) Avocado pesto is just such a superb idea, love it!

Reeni said...

This avocado pesto sounds so delicious! And looks incredible on the sandwich!

Creative Classroom Core said...

This sounds delicious! That sandwich sounds glorious!

Jenn said...

Daily Spud, Reeni, finsmom: Thanks.

Sophie said...

Yum! This is the first avocado pesto I've come across and I'm glad I did, avocados are underrated and so delicious!

Jenn said...

Sophie: avocados are my favs, next to chayote.

Karine said...

Avocado in pesto seems a great idea! The avocados must bring an amazing creaminess to the pesto :)

Jenn said...

Karine: it is creamy and really delicious!

Viagra Online said...

I've tasted this sandwich one day that I was in a camp so a friend carried this sandwich and he gave as. It was delicious.

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In my view one and all should browse on this.

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