Avocado Toast with Pesto and Egg
Pesto is one of my favorite sauces because it elevates anything into a “fancy” dish. Pesto comes from the Italian word, pestare (to grind, pound) and technically refers to anything that is pounded.
Pesto has been around since the Roman times and medieval times, although although we traditionally think of Genoese pesto, where basil is the main ingredient, doesn’t come around until the mid 1800s. (source)
Pesto is classically made with basil, garlic, cheese, olive oil, and pine nuts, but I’ve seen variations with every possible green leaf and every nut. One fun fact about pine nuts is that it can give you Pine Nut Syndrome or “pine mouth” – in which eating pine nuts can cause taste disturbances (a bitter metallic taste), lasting from days to weeks afterwards.
In fact, there’s lots of science journals describing and documenting Pine Nut Syndrome, like Pine mouth (pine nut) syndrome: description of the toxidrome, preliminary case definition, and best evidence regarding an apparent etiology and “Pine mouth” syndrome: cacogeusia following ingestion of pine nuts (genus: pinus). An emerging problem?.
Food science – that’s a pretty fun research area where I’d be happy to volunteer as a subject.
Today I’m sharing a homemade pesto recipe, which is now feasible thanks to my mini food processor, B’s Christmas gift for me. Making fresh basil is so much better than the store bought kind. Personally, I like mixing half the basil with half spinach for a milder taste, plus it makes the basil stretch further for budget conscious people. Pesto recipe is adapted from Simply Recipes
I’m also posting a recipe for Avocado Toast – one of those trendy Pinterest recipes that actually tastes as good as it looks. It’s fast, easy, and nutritious. I’ve also partnered with Cook the Stone to show tips on timing the ripe avocado to make the perfect avocado toast. There’s a lot of variations but I kept it classic with a sunny side up egg, tomato, and freshly made pesto to top off the avocado toast.
Avocado Toast with Pesto and Egg
Ingredients
2 slices whole grain bread
olive oil
1 small ripe avocado
pesto, homemade (recipe below) or from jar
1 egg
3-4 cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Drizzle olive oil on both sides of the bread slices and toast in toaster oven until golden brown. With a fork, mark your avocado then spread it on top of your toast. Top the avocado with your pesto. Cut your tomatoes in half and set aside.
In a medium hot skillet, lightly grease the pan with olive oil. Crack open your eggs, keeping egg yolk intact, Fry on medium low for about 4-6 minutes. When cooked to desired doneness, place egg on top of your toast. Top with cherry tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
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Homemade Pesto
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 cups spinach
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup pine nuts (or any toasted nuts such as walnuts, almonds, etc)
3 garlic cloves, minced (about 3 teaspoons)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
optional: 1/2 cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
Directions
Plae your basil, spinach, olive oil, nuts, and garlic in food processor and pulse until blended. Scrape down the sides of the food processor as needed. Stir in freshly ground black pepper to taste. If you’re ready to use the pesto, mix in the cheese. (Otherwise I leave the cheese out so it preserves longer and wait to add it.) Store in a glass jar or container in the fridge. Spread on toast, mix with pasta, top on your eggs, use in pizza, etc. Enjoy!
Love avocado on toast! Have never thought about putting pesto on it, will definitely give that a try!
i very much agree with your sentiments about pesto! this is a classy and nutritious breakfast. 🙂
This looks great and has all of my son's favorite ingredients. I bet I could whip this up easily for a before school breakfast.
AWWWWWW! This looks soooo yummy. My mouth was watering reading this article and looking at the photos. I do not have a food processor so I have yet to make homemade Pesto. But the rest of this is very easy to make!!! Thank you for sharing. I LOVE LOVE this recipe. So simple, but full of life, flavor, texture.
wowww my favorite breakfast is avo toast but i never thought of including pesto !! sounds BOMB, gonna try it tomorrow morning !!
xx Nicole
Such a simple a beautiful recipe ! The perfect breakfast
This looks awesome.I would never have thought of pesto and eggs.
Pesto literally goes with everything – give it a try!
Yum, yes it is!
Yes, it's quick and easy to do for breakfast (as well as an afternoon snack)
I used to use a blender instead – it can be done, but it's more difficult to clean since the blades aren't removable. Don't let the lack of a processor deter you 🙂
Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks so much! It was fun to photograph
It's my new favorite combo. Enjoy!
Pesto is one of my favorite sauces. You can put it on anything and make it better!
Love avocado toasts!! I never thought of adding pesto on it though. Thanks for the idea! it looks yummy, I'm definitely going to try this!
Home you enjoy it! The homemade pesto is worth making
I LOVE avocado toast. Pesto is a great idea for an addition!
This looks delicious – I bet it's super filling, too!
That's pretty interesting, I am not overly fond of pine nuts, so that might be why! Food science is a pretty cool subject!
Over summer I had basil coming out of my ears, so made pesto, it can go with a few dishes (like pasta, bruschetta and smashed avo).
This recipe looks amazing, thanks for sharing!
Mmmmm! Looks amazing! I've never actually eaten pine nuts as they are so crazy expensive here.. But I could definitely do the almonds! Awesome!
OMG Avacado and breakfast food! 2 of my favorites. This looks so yummy!
Yummy! Avocado is one of those foods can't be wrong. I love it. Never knew it coud go on toast.
Pesto makes everything ten times better
It's a good hearty breakfast for the mornings!
OMG, I'm always looking for basil, I can't keep my plant alive 🙁 You can make pesto without pine nuts – I've seen it used with walnuts for example, or you could perhaps leave it out (although the crunch is always my favorite)
I definitely buy them in small quantities due to price – only on a splurge 🙂
It's a winning combo!
I only discovered avocado toast as a Pinterest thing – but it's actually a great idea