So, with my very own Cooking Mama in town for a weekend, she definitely wanted to make a point of making eggs and having me try it, especially since I had mentioned that I wanted to work with eggs more and relearn how to like them. It’s not that I forgot, but I forgot…so, to make good on my promise, she whipped up an omelette for us to share, while I whipped up some avocado toast to go with it.

Now, I don’t have any photos of the eggs themselves—it was my fault that le Cooking Mama didn’t have the right equipment to make a flawless flip, so she felt it was not photograph worthy—but I will admit, they were actually really yummy. I only had about three bites (because too many bites of egg after not eating eggs for so many years leads to a fairly uncomfortable stomach ache), but it didn’t taste half bad! I’m not sure I can accurately say how it tasted, but she made the omelette with tomatoes and cheddar cheese, so the edges/outside had a bite, while the inside was gooey and warm. Though for the life of me, I still can’t decide what they actually taste like yet…and on that note, I also had a bite of my mom’s Egg’s Benedict on Sunday (we went to Kanela’s, which I also really, really like to go to when I get the desire to brunch, which as I’ve mentioned before is rare), and those were also very yummy, the whites almost having a mozzarella kind of feel to them, but again, no idea how to indicate that I know what I’m talking about yet when it comes to the actual taste. Velvety? I’ve heard that a lot in my cooking shows, but not sure I’d say that’s what I tasted…more practice required I guess.

But I had the desire to make avocado toast from scratch this weekend because if there’s anything my mom likes, it’s avocados! Plus, this doesn’t take a lot of effort to make from scratch, which is one of the other reasons I love this recipe! I also kind of winged it a little, trying to come up with something that sounded yummy with what I already had in my fridge from that week, and perusing a variety of different Pintrest recipes without finding one that pricked me as the one to try. Plus a lot of them were bacon, balsamic, and goat cheese themed, and as I looked at the lovely heirloom tomatoes I had purchased for the omelette and possible bruschetta I was planning to make (but didn’t), I thought, okay, let’s do a bruschetta caprese avocado toast, but instead of mozzarella cheese, I happened to have found some burrata at my grocery store, and I KNEW I had to include it (hence my twist).

If you haven’t had burrata before, let me tell you, this has now become my favorite soft cheese EVER. It’s firm, yet soft on the outside, and very creamy and rich on the inside. This cheese, with its very unique texture combination is amazing warm, and equally delicious chilled, not to mention that the very subtle creamy flavor goes really well with pretty much anything Italian (I have my eyes set on a fennel and burrata salad that I found, in addition to using it for pasta one day – perhaps a potato gnocchi). The burrata on top of the tomatoes and avocado absolutely made this toast a heck of a lot better than goat’s cheese would have, which isn’t to say goats cheese wouldn’t have been good! Goat’s cheese has a firmer creamed texture, but it’s the tangy flavor that it has that would have really taken the toast in a different direction, rather than retaining this profile of soft richness that I had begun to work on. Plus, goats cheese and mashed avocado, I think, have very similar textures, whereas the burrata was softer and was able to offset the chunkier bites with its smoothness. And the addition of arugula (an unexpected good move) adds a nice peppery note to the slight tang of the tomatoes to break up the richness of this dish! Plus arugula is just amazing in general, a definite favorite green of mine.

The glaze, I’ll admit, I was very, VERY lazy and just bought pre-bottled from the store, but the added sweetness was just the cherry on top of this rather tame toast (that and the basil, which added an additional fresh element to the dish). I know, I know, balsamic glaze is super easy to make, but with the agenda that we had that day, I just didn’t have the time to stand at my stove stirring for twenty minutes. I promise, I will make it one day, but that weekend was not the time nor the day. But if you’re looking for a very light and very scrumptious breakfast, this is the breakfast for you (and this is coming from someone who is not a naturally breakfast person)!

Avocado Burrata Caprese Toast
Serves 2-4

Ingredients

• 1 Avocado, halved & pit removed
• 1 Heirloom or Beefsteak Tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 burrata ball, sliced
• 1/3 cup basil, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup arugula
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon balsamic glaze (can use store bought glaze)
• 1 baguette/french bread loaf/preferred bread
• 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil

Instructions

1. Scoop avocado flesh with a spoon and place in a small bowl. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper, then mash with the back of the fork until you reach desired chunky consistency. Add more salt, lemon juice, and pepper to taste.
2. Spread the butter or olive oil on the top of your chosen bread and either toast in a pan or under the broiler until golden brown. (The bread I chose above was a mini French loaf, which I think worked splendidly, but you can use a baguette cut lengthwise, or sourdough, or whole wheat (cut into 1/2 to 1 inch thick slices), but whatever bread you choose, make sure it can stand up to your ingredients.)
3. Once bread is toasted, spoon your avocado on first, spread half of the arugula on the avocado, and layer/stagger your thinly sliced tomatoes on top. Then, layer the slices of burrata, and top with basil and a drizzle of the balsamic glaze. Serve immediately and enjoy!