Directions
1. Toast the bread, no butter or spray, until it reaches desired brownness. Keep in mind that if overly browned the bread will crack apart when bitten into and everything will fall off the toast.
2. In the meantime, combine the balsamic vinegar and olive oil (c). Add a dash of salt and pinch of Italian seasoning, if desired, and combine thoroughly. Slice the tomato. Pluck the basil. Halve, pit and peel the avocado, then slice to desired thickness.
3. Starting with one of the two smallest slices (ends), place an avocado slice on the very edge of the toast, followed by a slice of tomato, a slice of mozzarella (e) and a large basil leaf. Repeat until the toast is layered all the way across, ending with the other smallest slice of avocado (f).
4. Drizzle, to taste, balsamic olive oil mixture over top.
5. Serve immediately.
Cook’s Notes:
A rarity for me, I changed very little in this recipe. The original recipe calls for the basil to be sliced up and sprinkled over the top, which looks beautiful but the pieces are likely to fall off as soon as the toast is picked up and bitten into. Instead I left the leaves whole and used large leaves as additional layering. Smaller leaves can be used, but more would be needed per layer. As this was just for me, I also added a dash of salt to make the balsamic pop and Italian seasoning to add a little something extra.
The original recipe offers three options, the Avocado Caprese Toast, as well as Egg on and Mediterranean Avocado Toasts. I am super funny about how I eat my eggs so I won’t be trying that one. But the Mediterranean Avocado Toast sounds amazing, so I will make that one in the future.
The avocado, added to the caprese, gives this sandwich a rich, creamy wow factor. Along with the super quick prep and cook time, this recipe is a perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner when time is short but you still want something great to eat.
If you are like my husband and just have to have meat, you could easily add ham or bacon, either between the layers or laid across the bread before layering the ingredients. I do this for him with a Caprese Grilled Cheese (very similar to this recipe but with a balsamic glaze and pesto) I make every so often. It is one of the few recipes I repeat. The Avocado Caprese Toast will be joining that very short list.
If you want to add bacon, I suggest layering it so it doesn’t fall off as easily, especially if you like it super crisp like I do. Ham could go either way, but I would suggest lightly pan searing it first to give it a little extra pizzazz. You can use deli sliced ham or, as I do for my husband, leftover baked ham that I have thick sliced. I keep some vacuum sealed for just such occasions.
Either way I guarantee, if you like (or in my case love) these ingredients, you will make this recipe over and over and over again.
Original Source:
Other Sources:
Ingredient & Direction Notes:
a. Cook time is dependent on how dark you want your toast. I toasted mine to a super light, golden brown, just enough to toast it but not so much it would make the toast crack when bitten into.
b. Calories dependent upon how much of each ingredient is used to top the toast.
c. I used a 3:1 ratio, 3 teaspoons balsamic to 1 teaspoon olive oil. The ratio can be whatever is desired, but anything past the 3:1 seems too oily to me.
d. The salt isn’t necessary, but it really makes the balsamic oil mixture pop, so less is more when drizzling. Without the salt a heavier drizzle is needed to achieve the same flavor level.
e. I halved my tomato and mozzarella slices.
f. Using a small avocado, this left me with one leftover slice of avocado per toast, which I happily ate right then and there.
