Why you are cooking this tonight
The smashed avocado is the single most Australian brunch dish there is. Our cafes gave it to the world in the early 2000s and by 2010 it was on every breakfast menu from Bondi to Brooklyn. Done properly, it is avocado mashed with a fork (not a blender), a squeeze of lemon, sea salt flakes, cracked pepper, and a good thick slice of sourdough underneath.
This recipe adds feta, chilli flakes, and a drizzle of olive oil to lift it past ‘avocado on toast’ into something worth making at home. Soft-boiled egg on top is non-negotiable.
Notes on method
Ripe avocados. If they are hard, leave in a brown paper bag with a banana on the kitchen counter for a day or two. Good sourdough. Fresh lemon not bottled. Do not blender-purée the avocado – texture is half the point.
What to pour with it
A flat white. For weekend brunch with bubbles, Tasmanian sparkling. An Aperol Spritz if you are doing a long lunch.
The recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Soft-boil eggs: 6 minutes from boiling water, plunge into ice water. Peel carefully.
- Halve avocados, scoop into a bowl. Roughly mash with a fork. Add lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper. Leave chunky.
- Toast sourdough until deep golden. Rub the cut side of the garlic clove over each slice while hot.
- Pile smashed avocado on each slice. Halve eggs, sit on top. Scatter feta, chilli flakes, cracked pepper, sea salt, and a drizzle of olive oil.
- Finish with herbs if using. Serve immediately.