Having seen a recipe recently for a chicken pan melt using avocado and cheese, it brought to mind a method of cooking I learned many years ago as a lowly commis chef starting out.
Anything cooked in a parcel of foil, paper or even in pastry was termed to be 'en surprise'.....you break through the mysteriously plain parcel and surprise! you have revealed the wondrous treasure within.
Cooking food in this manner also has the advantage of retaining moisture which is excellent when cooking fish......any fish cooked in a foil parcel with a squeeze of lemon, a dash of white wine or vermouth and a few fresh herbs is simply divine....and when you open that parcel the concealed aromas burst forth and fill your senses......mmm!
This dish came about by me, as usual, being stubborn about any food heading for the compost bin......I'm big into the #wastenot campaign!
In my fridge I found half a butternut squash, the other half having found it's way into a squash and 3 bean casserole....recipe to follow in a day or so.....half an avocado that was beginning to brown even though I had used lemon juice on it, and a jar with a few tablespoons of my home made tomato sauce lying at the bottom of it.
Although avocados are lovely in a salad or as a nice garlicky guacamole dip, browned avocados are not the most appetising, but as I am partial to them cooked it doesn't matter what shade they are as long as they are near enough ripe. Cooking avocado changes the whole flavour of them and seems to intensify their creaminess and baking them with a tomato sauce topped with some lovely gooey mozzarella would be da bomb! as they say.
So for my Avocado 'en surprise'....you will need....feeds 2 people
the bulbous end of a butter nut squash 1/2 an avocado
4-6 tablespoons of 'Cheat's tomato sauce'...recipe HERE! or you can use your favourite shop bought sauce
approx 100 g mozzarella
sea salt, black pepper
olive oil
1 clove garlic
How to:
- cut the squash in two even halves and scrape away all the seeds and any loose stringy flesh to leave a smooth interior shell
- place on an oven proof dish or baking sheet....if they wobble too much you can trim a bit of the hard skin from the underside to keep them steady
- score the inner flesh a couple of times with a sharp knife
- grate or crush the garlic and rub into the score lines
- season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil
- cover with tin foil or a lid and bake in a pre-heated oven, 160 oC for 15- 20 minutes to soften the flesh a little
- remove from the oven, and turn the oven up to 170oC
- fill each squash shell with the tomato sauce, top with slices of avocado, season with a little sea salt
- top with slices of mozzarella to your own liking.....some like a little, some like a lot!....feel free to use grated mozzarella if you like
- return to the oven for approx 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and delicious
- serve on their own or with a tossed salad on the side
You could use a nice mature cheddar cheese or some other suitable cheese with good melting properties like Edam or even brie, I wouldn't recommend using parmesan as the idea is that you have this lovely cheesy molten top....you break through and SURPRISE!...the creamy goodness of avocado....yum! You could transform this dish and feed more than 2 people by using a whole butternut squash and filling it with ratatouille, even omitting the avocado, and topping with cheese.
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