Caprese Avocado Toast

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

When it’s summer, you need more than just caprese salads to enjoy this classic combination of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Caprese anything really sums up the joy and ease of summer ingredients.

Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil are a solid starting point, so why not experiment and be creative? You don’t need that many extras to enhance this power trio. It can be as simple as using the best olive oil you have in your my kitchen, flaky sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and of course, ripe avocado.

For this avocado toast, I roast the tomatoes. This extra step gives them a flavor boost. You can roast them ahead of time, so all you have to do is assemble your toast when you want to eat it.

Caprese avocado toast is so much more than just brunch. You can turn this vegetarian recipe into a meal for lunch or dinner with a mixed greens salad on the side.

How To Tell If An Avocado Is Ripe

I hate to say it, but there’s no 100% foolproof way to tell if an avocado is ripe. Having ripe avocados is important when you are mashing them up to spread on toast.

Here are thing to look for when choosing ripe avocados:

• Color & Texture: A ripe avocado will have dark green skin that can look almost black. Also, the skin will feel bumpy. These signs don’t always work because there can be variations depending on the variety of avocado.
• Softness:  When you gently squeeze a ripe avocado, it should give just a bit. If it’s too firm, the avocado isn’t ready yet.
• Stem: You should be able to easily remove the stem. And it should be green underneath. If it’s brown, that means the avocado is overripe.

When you buy avocados, think about when you’re actually going to eat them. You may want to choose avocados that aren’t as ripe knowing that they will sit for a few days before you use them. In that case, I would pick an avocado that feels firmer when you give it a light squeeze.

How To Cut An Avocado

First, slice the avocado lengthwise all the way around.

Then twist the sides apart. I like to remove the avocado pit without a knife, especially when I don’t care about perfect slices.

To remove the pit, I use a spoon to just scoop it out.

The Ingredients

This is what you need for the toast:

• Avocados: Ripe avocados are easiest to mash for avocado toast. They are creamy and delicious, too!
• Tomatoes: I prefer medium-sized tomatoes. You can use heirloom tomatoes and tomatoes in any color. If you only have small tomatoes, they will work too. It will just make the toast a little more messy to eat.
• Mozzarella: Buy a large ball of fresh mozzarella that’s around 8 ounces. Then slice it about the same thickness as the roasted tomatoes.
• Basil: In between the slices of tomatoes and mozzarella, I layer in fresh basil leaves.
• Crusty bread: Try to find a nice loaf of artisan bread that has a hearty crust to support the avocado spread, tomatoes and mozzarella. This is not the recipe for soft sandwich bread.
• Pesto: To maximize the basil flavor, I add pesto to the mashed avocado. You can use homemade pesto or store-bought.
• Olive oil: I drizzle both the tomatoes and bread with extra virgin olive oil before they go into the oven.
• Salt & pepper: With so few ingredients, salt and pepper are crucial to bring out the flavors of everything from the tomatoes to the mozzarella.