Easy peasy pizza
Just brown the garlicky crust and add avocados
The following question may be divisive: Have you had enough avocado toast, or have you only just begun? Whichever way you answer, I think I’ve got a dish for you.
From the guys behind the online video channel Bosh comes this hybrid: Avocado Toast Pizza. It’s just exactly what it sounds like, a pizza crust topped with the familiar, great combination of avocado and things tart (lemon), spicy (chilies) and green/grassy (cilantro).
I used a precooked crust, because, well, I don’t make a habit of making pizza from scratch on a weeknight.
But if you have some dough in your refrigerator or freezer or buy some at the store and want to roll it out and bake it first, go right ahead.
I pressed four cloves’ worth of garlic to go on that crust (eight times more than the original recipe called for), along with most of the other ingredients, save the avocado. The aroma as it baked drew more than one salivating co-worker into our food lab, too.
When it came out, I topped it with the avocado slices, squeezed the lemon over everything and finished it with a sprinkling of crushed red-pepper flakes, salt and pepper. It tasted like the best avocado toast ever, until I dipped a slice in a side dish of salsa verde, and then it became something else entirely wonderful.
This recipe is adapted from Bosh!: Simple Recipes. Amazing Food. All Plants, by Henry David Firth and Ian Theasby (William Morrow).
AVOCADO TOAST PIZZA
Serves: 4
1 large pre-baked pizza crust 1 tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 fresh red chili pepper, thinly sliced (see NOTE)
1/2 cup (125 mL) lightly packed fresh cilantro, chopped, plus some whole leaves for garnish 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) sea salt Flesh from 2 avocados, cut into 1/4-inch/6 mm slices
1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh lemon juice 1 tsp (5 mL) crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper
Salsa verde, for dipping (optional)
1. Place a pizza stone or rimmed baking sheet on the middle oven rack; preheat to 450 F (230 C).
2. Brush the surface of the pizza crust with the oil. Scatter the garlic and most of the chili pepper slices (reserving a few for garnish) over the top, plus the chopped cilantro and 1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) of the salt.
3. Use a pizza peel or cake lifter to transfer the crust to the oven; bake (on the pizza stone or baking sheet) until the edges of the crust are browned and the garlic is very fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board, then top with the sliced avocados, a sprinkling of lemon juice, the crushed red pepper flakes, the black pepper, the cilantro leaves and the reserved chili pepper slices. Drizzle with a little more oil, if desired.
4. Cut into pieces and serve with the salsa verde, for dipping, if desired.
NOTE: If you want a milder flavour, remove the seeds from the chili before using.