It's been a long time since I have given you a recipe with no photo, even a crappy one. My only excuse is that, though delicious, my finished dish looked nothing like the photo that accompanies the original recipe linked below. Mine did not look good.
I will make this again but will probably skip the step of putting the avocadoes back in their skin (peel?) to cook and will simply cook the purée in a gratin dish. L. and I both agree that this method would serve well when transforming the original recipe from an interesting appetizer to a delicious dip served with avocado chips. This dish definitely needed crunch even with the slight crunch from the nut butter.
Recipe
Serves 2 as an appetizer or about 1 cup dip
1 ripe avocado, halved and pit removed 1 tsp crunchy almond butter, or any other nut butter 4 basil leaves, julienned 2 tsp pesto
Zest from 1 lemon + 1 tsp juice 2 egg whites
Preheat the oven to 425.
Scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl. Add all the ingredients except the egg white and mash the ingredients together.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold them gently into the avocado mixture, 1/3 at a time, trying not to deflate the mixture.
Spoon the mixture back into the avocado peels or into a lightly greased dish. Place in the oven and cook for 7 minutes until golden brown on top.
Serve at once. I would recommend serving it with a crunchy salad for contrast so that the avocado not end up being cloying.
Original recipe, 3rd one down in the article, here.