Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Avocado Ricotta Crostini – Start Spreading the News

Michele and I were in Oakland recently, at a restaurant called Southie, when I saw something I’d never seen before; avocado and ricotta cheese paired together on a crostini. I didn’t order it, but was fascinated by the idea, and eventually it turned into what you see here.

By the way, everything we did have was great, so if you’re in the area, check them out. I don’t do a lot of shout-outs here, but that'll make me feel a little better about stealing their appetizer. They actually did theirs with the cheese spread on first, and then sliced avocado placed over the top, but I decided to go for something a little easier to serve, and went with a spread instead.

I found this to be a very delicious combination that was sort of unusual, and yet familiar at the same time. I did roughly equal parts cheese and avocado, but of course you can play around with this ratio, depending on your mood. The same goes for the garnishes, where any number of fresh, or pickled seasonal vegetables would work wonderfully, as would a scattering of crispy bacon.

As you know, we’re heading straight into the heart of entertaining season, and no matter what you decorate yours with, these beauties would make for a great appetizer or snack, which is just one reason I really do hope you give these avocado ricotta crostini a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for about 6 appetizer-sized portions:
1 large ripe Hass avocado
3/4 cup ricotta cheese (or more or less depending on the ratio you want)
1/2 lemon, juiced (you could also add some of the zest)
1 tablespoon finely sliced fresh basil
salt and cayenne to taste
sliced cherry tomatoes and radishes to garnish
drizzle of olive oil
pinch of sea salt and freshly snipped chives for the top

11 comments:

Unknown said...

If you think avocado toast is great. You should try avocado mashed potatoes. Use sour cream instead of milk and add avocado. Delicious.

Unknown said...

Love love love Chef John. But recipes are so hard to do in my kitchen by just an ingredient list. How long do I bake these again?? Would love the instructions in text if ya could. Thanks.

Angela said...

Looks like a winner. Thank you for all you do, Chef John!

Jenny said...

Looks delicious. I've gone out and bought the ingredients and making shortly! Love from London

LynnieBNC said...

YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in!!

Unknown said...

Looks like another winner! Thanks for the sharing the videos.

TylerSP said...

Throwing my food wish out there again, because you almost certainly don't have enough ideas:

Buckwheat (at least partially) crepes with some kind of mushroom-swiss/jarlsberg/emmentaler filling and/or sauce.

Rock on!

jaggededge said...

Poor Oakland has gone the way of S.F. being gentrified to death. Too bad, it used to be a great working class town. Now it's just an overpriced ****hole.

Unknown said...

Made these for card game get together last night. Incredibly easy and delicious. Thanks Chef for another great recipe!

TME said...

I love your videos and humor! May I request a video on "Toum"? It's a Lebanese garlic sauce (used in their chicken shawarma wraps) SO good!

Unknown said...

This is missing the bread as an ingredient.