Avocado on toast may be a simple meal but it has become a firm brunch favourite in recent years. While it’s possible to treat yourself to an array of fancy avocado on toast options at cafes across the UK, the dish is so easy to whip up at home that you may as well save yourself the pennies.
Plus, making it yourself gives you the freedom to experiment with some new flavours as, let’s be honest, plain mashed avocado is a tad bland on its own. To pack in a bit more flavour and really enhance the creaminess of the avocado, food experts recommend mashing it with ricotta cheese. Ricotta cheese has a slightly sweet, mild and creamy flavour that is just delicate enough not to overpower the avocado, making it the perfect complementing ingredient.
When mashed together, the combination of the two creates a lovely smooth texture and enhances the creaminess of the avocado that is deliciously satisfying. Plus, ricotta cheese is also quite moisture-rich so it helps to make the mixture nice and silky and less dense.
Speaking to experts at Food Republic, chef and cookbook author Jake Cohen suggests whipping avocado with ricotta in a blender to make it extra smooth and creamy, and then piping this onto your toast like icing.
Food Republic said: “Avocado toast is always deliciously rich, but why not make it even creamier? That is what chef and cookbook author Jake Cohen likes to do.”
For Cohen, the best avocado toast has cheese. He told the site: “I whip my avocado with ricotta in the food processor until silky.
“This lightly textured and moisture-rich ingredient is one of the best cheeses to give avocado toast a creamy boost. And when blended together in a food processor, the ricotta transforms the avocado into a gorgeous pastel green mousse.”
While avocado and ricotta alone are perfectly tasty, those keen to add even more flavour and texture can experiment with adding extra toppings to the dish.
Cohen recommends adding “something spicy, something acidic, and something fresh” for the ultimate combination, such as chilli or basil, lemon zest and fresh dill.
But you can tailor your toppings according to your preference and try experimenting with things like a poached or fried egg, chopped tomatoes, or simply a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
Recipe developer Monika from Everyday Healthy Recipes recommends adding a combination of red peppers, basil, chives, radish, capers, olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
She said: “Creamy avocado makes a great pairing with mellow, sweetish ricotta cheese, which adds protein without too many calories.
“This Mediterranean-inspired avocado and ricotta toast comes with a crunchy and refreshing topping mixture of salad vegetables and herbs. Easy to make, satisfying, full of texture, colour and, above all, delicious flavour! This recipe is extremely versatile and you can easily tweak the ingredients and create your own topping mixture.”