Entertaining + Fun: Palta rellena, two better halves

I was expecting my first baby the day I felt a sudden craving for palta rellena (stuffed avocado with tuna salad) for the first time . There was no time to lose, so I ran to the grocery store and chose the biggest avocado, two cans of tuna, some mayonnaise, and returned to my tiny kitchen to prepare this delicious dish all for myself. But it turned out being too much food for me, and I learned an important lesson: eat in moderation, especially if you are pregnant.

A few years after that experience, I was ready to give this tasty and nourishing appetizer another chance. To this day, I can say that I´ve tried every stuffed avocado I could imagine: with chicken salad, tuna and mayo, palm hearts with vinaigrette, Russian salad, shrimp cocktail, scallops with Bloody Mary sauce, causa… If you´re feeling adventurous, you can even try putting some poached eggs in the avocado halves, cover with Hollandaise sauce, and run under the broiler. It’s magical!

Today I prepared one recipe in two presentations. One of them is the typical stuffed avocado, and the other is the stuffing served over some guacamole. The stuffing is nothing else than a luscious shrimp cocktail (or cebiche). The result is wonderful. You can make both presentations if you feel like doing something fancy for lunch or dinner. Just use half the avocado for one variation, and half for the other one. Here’s how:

1.- Cut the avocado in half and mash one of the halves with salt, pepper, lemon juice, 1/4 garlic clove finely chopped. Put this guacamole in a metal ring, leaving a hole in the middle, and then stuff with a mixture of 1 cup cooked shrimp, 2 tablespoons julienne tomato, 2 tablespoons julienne red onion, 1 tablespoon coriander leaves, juice of 2 lemons, 1 tablespoon black olives, salt and pepper.

2.- Using the same shrimp cocktail of the previous recipe, stuff the other avocado half, garnish with parsley or coriander leaves and serve.