As with the previous dip du jour, hummus, homemade guacamole is quick, easy and far, far tastier than any shop-bought version.
In the UK, the greatest difficulty is finding ripe avocados. If I want three, I usually buy four a few days in advance and store them in a brown paper bag containing a couple of ripe bananas. With a bit of luck, the bananas will ripen most of the avocados by the time I am ready to use them.
Before the letters of complaint start to arrive, I make no claims as to the authenticity of this recipe but I do know that it’s a great dip to serve with tortilla chips, crudités or toasted pitta bread. It is also a great accompaniment for grilled meats, chicken and fish, or you can spread it on toast and top it with a poached or fried egg to liven up your breakfast.
Rather than serving guacamole as a dip or a garnish for grilled meats, our son Harry often serves this gâteau as a starter. It is pretty, very tasty and, when accompanied by a small leaf salad and served with tortilla chips or warm pitta bread, gets rave reviews.
- For the guacamole
- 3 ripe avocados
- 1 medium sized tomato, deseeded and diced (about 5 mm). Leave this out if you’re making the gâteau.
- ½ small red Thai bird’s eye chilli (or any other chilli depending upon your heat tolerance), finely chopped 5 spring onions, chopped
- 1 pickled gherkin, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of chopped coriander
- ¼ red pepper, finely diced
- 1 large clove of garlic, grated or crushed
- 1 heaped tablespoon of mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon of Tabasco (I prefer the chipotle version)
- Juice of 1 lime, or 2 if not very juicy
- 1 large pinch of ground cumin
- 1 large pinch of paprika
- Salt and ground black pepper
- For the guacamole gâteau (makes 6 individual gâteaux or 1 large gâteau)
- 1 recipe of guacamole as above, omitting the tomato
- 6 tomatoes, deseeded and diced into 5mm pieces
- 300 g cooked sweetcorn (fresh, frozen or canned)
- Cajun seasoning
To make the guacamole
- Halve the avocados, remove the stones, and scoop out the flesh from the skins.
- Mash the flesh with the lime juice until almost smooth.
- Add all of the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Check the seasoning then refrigerate for 2 – 3 hours to allow the flavours to meld.
To make the guacamole gâteau
- Place a 9 × 3.5cm mousse ring (or a small baked bean can with the top and bottom taken off) onto to the plate. To make a large one, use a 20cm pie tin with its base removed.
- Spoon in a layer of corn, filling it by a quarter. Gently squish the corn to hold it in place.
- Cover the corn with a similar layer of the diced tomato and add a shake of Cajun seasoning.
- Gently press the tomato to hold it in place. The ring should now be half full.
- Fill the ring to the top with guacamole and level with a spatula or a palette knife.
- Carefully lift off the ring and, if you’re making individual gâteaux, repeat on each of the plates.
- Serve with tortilla chips or toasted pitta bread and garnish with a small, dressed leaf salad.