Baked Avocados with Bleu Cheese, Pancetta, Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Capers

Let me say it again. Baked Avocados with Bleu Cheese, Pancetta, Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Capers. There. Now I have your mouth lusting like a middle-school boy.

This recipe came from Cafe Girafa, a little cafe in Suchdol, Prague, Czech Republic. It’s a five minute walk from my parents’ house, and serves the best savory crepes I’ve ever had. This recipe isn’t theirs verbatim, but it’s a close reinterpretation. (I think they use bacon instead of pancetta, and gorgonzola instead of bleu cheese). However, judging by the ingredient list, there’s really no way to screw this up. Put all of the yummiest things you can think of together and eat them. That’s basically what we’re doing here.

Ingredients:

2 avocados
1/8lb pancetta, sliced
1/8lb bleu cheese
6 sun-dried tomatoes
30ish capers
Olive oil

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375. In a skillet, cook the pancetta briefly. Go for about the doneness of undercooked, wobbly bacon (ewww). Remove from heat. Chop up the sun-dried tomatoes into approximately 1/4″ x 1″ slivers. Halve the avocados & remove the pits. (See below for the proper way to open an avocado). Plop a good hunk of cheese in the avocado pit. Sprinkle the sun-dried tomatoes and capers on and around the cheese. Add more of everything until it’s mounded. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle pancetta over the top. (This is not meant to be a precise recipe. Adjust ingredients to taste. If you really like bleu cheese, put more cheese on. If you hate capers, skip ’em!) Bake 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted, the pancetta looks crispy, or you just absolutely cannot wait another second. If you want, broil the top for the final 2-3 minutes to make sure the pancetta is good and crispy.

How to open an avocado:

Use a large, sharp knife. Cut straight into like you are going to halve it lengthwise until you hit the pit. Rotate the avocado until you’ve sliced all the way around the pit, and the meat and skin are cleanly in two halves (still attached to the pit). Grab each half in either hand and rotate the halves in opposite directions (left half clockwise, right half counter-clockwise). One half should separate from the pit. Take the knife and (carefully!) whack the pit so that the knife sticks into it. (Do not whack yourself, anyone or anything else with the knife. Avocado pits can be slippery, so be sure to aim correctly). Grab the half in one hand and the knife in the other. Twist again in alternating directions. The pit should pop right out.